Gaga Over eNovels: July 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

The Summer We Came To Life

Every summer, Samantha Wheland joins her childhood friends—Isabel, Kendra and Mina—on a vacation, somewhere exotic and fabulous. Together with their mixed bag of parents, they’ve created a lifetime of memories. This year it’s a beach house in Honduras. But for the first time, their clan is not complete. Mina lost her battle against cancer six months ago, and the friends she left behind are still struggling to find their way forward without her.

For Samantha, the vacation just feels wrong without Mina. Despite being surrounded by her friends—the closest thing she has to family—Mina’s death has left Sam a little lost. Unsure what direction her life should take. Fearful that whatever decision she makes about her wealthy French boyfriend’s surprise proposal, it’ll be the wrong one.

The answers aren’t in the journal Mina gave Sam before she died. Or in the messages Sam believes Mina is sending as guideposts. Before the trip ends, the bonds of friendship with her living friends, the older generation’s stories of love and loss, and Sam’s glimpse into a world far removed from the one in which she belongs will convince her to trust her heart. And follow it.

Ghosts Among Us

Everyone loves a good ghost story. Perhaps the human fascination with the supernatural stems from the fact that most of us, at some point in our lives, have experienced something we couldn't quite explain. From a very young age James Van Praagh was aware of a dimension that most of us cannot see, and he has dedicated his life to explaining it to the rest of us. Ghosts Among Us takes us on an incredible journey into the spirit world that brings to light one of our greatest mysteries—what happens to us after we die?

Van Praagh, the New York Times bestselling author and co-executive producer of the CBS series The Ghost Whisperer, shares his knowledge and life experience about ghosts, a subject that can seem to many of us both bizarre and terrifying. But when the world beyond is explained fully by an experienced guide, dismissal and apprehension can be turned into knowledge and inspiration. With incredible true ghost stories and surprising details about how ghosts actively participate in our lives, Van Praagh challenges us to question our perceptions and shows us how we can live more fully through understanding the world of spirits. Including eerily accurate readings, the author's development as a medium, and detailed how-to information, Ghosts Among Us is an all-encompassing guide to the supernatural.

Mille's note: I read, and made me feel better. Recommended to those who are in search for afterlife answers.

With Friends Like These

Have you ever been a less than perfect friend? To whom does your first loyalty belong--your best friend or your husband? With her trademark wit and empathy, Sally Koslow explores the entangled lives of women in this candid, fast-paced novel.

Quincy, Talia, Chloe, and Jules met in the early nineties after answering a roommate ad for a Manhattan apartment. Despite having little in common, the women became fast friends. A decade later, their lives have diverged, though their ties remain strong.

Quincy, a Midwestern introvert, is trying to overcome a set of tragedies by hunting for the perfect home; Talia, a high-energy Brooklyn wife and mom with an outspoken conscience, is growing resentful of her friends' greater financial stability and her husband's lack of ambition; timid Chloe, also a mother, is trying to deflect pressure from her husband, a hedge fund manager, to play the role of trophy wife; while Jules, a fiercely independent actress/entrepreneur with a wicked set of life rules, is confronting her forties alone.

When Jules gives her new boyfriend the inside scoop on the real estate gem Quincy is lusting after, and Talia chases a lucrative job earmarked for Chloe, the women are forced to wrestle with the challenges of love and motherhood. Will their friendships and marriages survive? And at what price? Punchy yet tender, a high-five to sisterhood, this book will hit an emotional bull's-eye for anyone who has had--or been--less than a perfect friend.

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx

A smart, entertaining, and heartfelt novel about a woman coming to terms with decisions she can never reverse

Molly Marx led an enviable life--until she was found dead along the bank of the Hudson River. A young wife and mother, Molly now finds herself in The Duration, where, with the help of a refreshingly unorthodox guide, she can observe the friends and family she left behind: her plastic surgeon husband who even in mourning can't control his wandering eye, the handsome colleague she found irresistible, a fiercely competitive twin sister, her controlling mother-in-law, a loyal but confused friend, and--most important--her purest love, a three-year-old daughter. As Molly watches them try to untangle the events leading to her mysterious end, she relives her past and learns the fates of those she cherished most (and least).

Exploring marriage, fidelity, friendship, family, and mortality, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx is a playful yet tender love story about a flawed but charming woman, forced--better late than never--to take responsibility for the choices in her complicated life.

Little Pink Slips

Until her promotion to editor in chief at Lady magazine, Magnolia Gold (née Maggie Goldfarb of Fargo, North Dakota) felt as out of place as a pair of Keds at a Jimmy Choo sample sale. Now, as the youngest editor in chief ever to wield a red pen at Lady, Magnolia, with her loyal staff and chichi parties, is finally on top.

Enter Bebe Blake, loudmouth TV personality and all-around fashion Don't. To Magnolia's -- and everyone else's -- horror, not only has her boss given her job to Bebe, but they're also turning Lady into Bebe. And Magnolia will be relegated to executive purgatory. Now she must watch as her beloved mag turns rag. With Bebe all over the cover -- in bike shorts.

Inspired by Koslow's own life, Little Pink Slips nails the glossy magazine world -- and reveals how even a boldface name can fall on her liposuctioned butt...

Silver Girl

Meredith Martin Delinn just lost everything: her friends, her homes, her social standing - because her husband Freddy cheated rich investors out of billions of dollars.

Desperate and facing homelessness, Meredith receives a call from her old best friend, Constance Flute. Connie's had recent worries of her own, and the two depart for a summer on Nantucket in an attempt to heal. But the island can't offer complete escape, and they're plagued by new and old troubles alike. When Connie's brother Toby - Meredith's high school boyfriend - arrives, Meredith must reconcile the differences between the life she is leading and the life she could have had.

Set against the backdrop of a Nantucket summer, Elin Hilderbrand delivers a suspenseful story of the power of friendship, the pull of love, and the beauty of forgiveness.

Fish Out of Water (three)

Making Waves

Fred the mermaid has taken the bait and chosen Artur, High Prince of the Black Sea, over human marine biologist Thomas. And just in time. The existence of the Undersea Folk is no longer a secret, and someone needs to keep them from floundering in the media spotlight. Fred has all the right skills for the job, but not for when her real father surfaces and his presence complicates matters even more.

As civil war threatens to sink the merfolk, Fred can't stop thinking about the landlubber she left behind...

Swimming Without a Net (two)

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

It's not normal for a mermaid to hate being out in open water, but Fred never claimed to be normal. To visit the undersea realm of Artur, the High Prince, and the rest of the royal merfamily, she has to fin it to the Cayman Islands. Luckily, hunky marine biologist Thomas is along for the swim--in his custom-made underwater RV. He'll be able to explore where no "outlander" has gone before and give Fred a place to escape to when the Undersea Folk start getting on her nerves.

But as Fred tries to fit in with her own kind, she finds herself hooked on both Artur and Thomas, and caught between two factions of merfolk: those happy with swimming under the radar--and those who want to bring their existence to the surface...

Sleeping with the Fishes (one)

A Fish Out of Water

Fred is a mermaid. But stop right there. Whatever image you're thinking of right now. Fred is not blonde. She's not buxom. And she's definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn't help matters that her hair is ocean-colored.

Being a mermaid does help Fred when she works the New England Aquarium. But needless to say, it's there that she gets involved in something fishy. Weird levels of toxins have been found in the local water. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her merperson ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You'd think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again.

Hannah's List

My darling Michael, I know this letter will come as a shock to you....

On the anniversary of his beloved wife's death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him.

In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request--I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn't spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she's chosen three women she asks him to consider.

First on Hannah's list is her cousin, Winter Adams, a trained chef who owns a cafe on Seattle's Blossom Street. The second is Leanne Lancaster, Hannah's oncology nurse. Michael knows them both. But the third name is one he's not familiar with--Macy Roth.

Each of these three women has her own heartache, her own private grief. More than a year earlier, Winter broke off her relationship with another chef. Leanne is divorced from a man who defrauded the hospital for which she works. And Macy lacks family of her own, the family she craves, but she's a rescuer of strays, human and animal. Macy is energetic, artistic, eccentric--and couldn't be more different from Michael.

During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne and Macy, learning more about each of them...and about himself. Learning what Hannah already knew. He's a man who needs the completeness only love can offer. And Hannah's list leads him to the woman who can help him find it.

Dancing at Midnight

Lady Arabella Blydon has beauty and a brain, and she's tired of men who can see only one without the other.

When a suitor tells Arabella he's willing to overlook her appalling bluestocking tendencies on account of her looks and fortune, she decides to take a break from the Marriage Mart. During an extended stay in the country, she never expects to meet Lord John Blackwood, a wounded war hero who intrigues her like no other man.

Lord John has lived through the worst horrors of war... but nothing could have been as terrifying to his tormented heart as Lady Arabella. She is intoxicating, infuriating... and she makes him want to live again. Suddenly he's writing bad poetry and climbing trees in the pitch-dark night... just so he can dance with her as the clock strikes midnight. And even though he knows he can never be the sort of man she deserves, he can't help wanting her. But when the harsh light of day replaces the magic of midnight, can this tormented soul learn to love again?

Splendid

There are two things everyone knows about Alexander Ridgeley. One, he's the Duke of Ashbourne. And two, he has no plans to marry anytime soon...

That is until a redheaded American throws herself in front of a carriage to save his young nephew's life. She's everything Alex never thought a woman could be—smart and funny, principled and brave. But she's a servant, completely unsuitable for a highborn duke—unless, perhaps, she's not quite what she seems...

American heiress Emma Dunster might be surrounded by Englishmen, but that doesn't mean she intends to marry one—even if she has agreed to participate in one London Season. When she slipped out of her cousins' home, dressed as a kitchen maid, all she wanted was one last taste of anonymity before her debut. She never dreamed she'd find herself in the arms of a dangerously handsome duke... or that he'd be quite so upset when he discovered her true identity. But true love tends to blossom just when one least expects it, and passion can melt even the most stubborn of hearts.

Summer On Blossom Street

KNITTING AND LIFE
They're both about beginnings -- and endings. That's why Lydia Goetz, owner of A Good Yarn on Seattle's Blossom Street, offers a class called Knit to Quit. It's for people who want to quit something -- or someone! -- and start a new phase of their lives.

First to join is Phoebe Rylander, who's trying to get over a man. Alix Turner and her husband want a baby, so she has to quit smoking. And Bryan Hutchinson needs a way to deal with the stress of running his family's business.

Then there's Lydia's friend Anne Marie Roche. She and her adopted daughter, Ellen, have finally settled into a secure and happy routine -- when a stranger appears asking questions.

Meanwhile, Lydia and her husband, Brad, have their hands full with the angry, defiant twelve-year-old who unexpectedly becomes their foster child....

But when your life -- and your stitches -- get snarled, your friends can always help!

Twenty Wishes

What do you want most in the world?

Anne Marie Roche wants to find happiness again. At 38 her life's not what she'd expected--she's childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore on Seattle's Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there's a feeling of emptiness.

On Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to celebrate...what? Hope, possibility, the future. They each begin a list of twenty wishes, things they always wanted to do but never did.

Anne Marie's list starts with: Find one good thing about life. It includes learning to knit, doing good for someone else, falling in love again. She begins to act on her wishes and when she volunteers at a local school, an eight-year-old girl named Ellen enters her life. It's a relationship that becomes far more involving than Anne Marie intended. It also becomes far more important than she ever imagined.

As Ellen helps Anne Marie complete her list of twenty wishes, they both learn that wishes can come true--but not necessarily in the way you expect.

Back On Blossom Street

Blossom Street--where you'll find everything you're looking for! From yarn and flowers to friendship...

There's a new shop on Seattle's Blossom Street--a flower store called Susannah's Garden, right next door to A Good Yarn. Susannah Nelson, the owner, has just hired an assistant named Colette Blake, a young widow who's obviously hiding a secret--or two.

When Susannah and Colette both join Lydia Goetz's new knitting class, they discover that Lydia and her sister, Margaret, have worries of their own. Margaret's daughter, Julia, is the victim of a random carjacking, and the entire family is thrown into emotional chaos.

Then there's Alix Townsend, whose wedding is only months away. She's not sure she can go through with it, though. A reception at the country club, with hundreds of guests she's never met--it's just not Alix. But, like everyone else in Lydia's knitting class, she knows there's a solution to every problem... and that another woman can usually help you find it!

Susannah's Garden

It was the year that changed everything...

When Susannah Nelson turned eighteen, she said goodbye to her boyfriend, Jake--and never saw him again. She never saw her brother, Doug, again, either. He died unexpectedly that same year.

Now, at fifty, Susannah finds herself regretting the paths not taken. Long married, a mother and a teacher, she should be happy. But she feels there's something missing in her life. Not only that, she's balancing the demands of an aging mother and a temperamental twenty-year-old daughter.

Her mother, Vivian, a recent widow, is having difficulty coping and living alone, so Susannah goes home to Colville, Washington. In returning to her parents' house, her girlhood friends and the garden she's always loved, she also returns to the past--and the choices she made back then. What she discovers is that things are not always as they once seemed. Some paths are dead ends. But some gardens remain beautiful....

A Good Yarn

Lydia Hoffman owns the shop on Blossom Street. In the year since it opened, A Good Yarn has thrived -- and so has Lydia. A lot of that is due to Brad Goetz. But when Brad's ex-wife reappears, Lydia is suddenly afraid to trust her newfound happiness.

Three women join Lydia's newest class. Elise Beaumont, retired and bitterly divorced, learns that her onetime husband is reentering her life. Bethanne Hamlin is facing the fallout from a much more recent divorce. And Courtney Pulanski is a depressed and overweight teenager, whose grandmother's idea of helping her is to drag her to seniors' swim sessions -- and to the knitting class at A Good Yarn.

The Shop On Blossom Street

There's a little yarn shop on Blossom Street in Seattle. It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love...

Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How To Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project.

These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries --- about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more...

Cursed

PI Regan Reilly moved from Los Angeles to New York City when she married Jack "no relation" Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. To help a friend, Regan takes on a case that takes her back to her old stomping grounds. . . .

On a snowy day in New York City, PI Regan Reilly gets an urgent call from her former neighbor, Abigail Feeney. A Hollywood hairdresser, Abigail believes her life has been cursed since the day she was born -- Friday the 13th.

Always unlucky in love, Abigail now needs Regan's help in tracking down an ex-boyfriend who was just spotted in downtown Los Angeles -- a "no-good bum" who borrowed $100,000 from her three months ago, then promptly disappeared. Abigail desperately needs to get that money back, money given to her by her grandmother who is heading to L.A. Grandma Feeney, no shrinking violet, has plans to buy an old friend's condo for Abigail and will need that hard-earned money to make the deal.

With hubby Jack away, the weather in New York miserable, and the guilt-provoking memory that Abigail had brought her chicken soup when she was sick, Regan agrees to hop a plane. Before long, the hunt for Abigail's ex takes some dangerous turns. . . . But when Abigail becomes a suspect in a murder investigation, Regan begins to wonder if the curse is real -- and possibly contagious!

Decked

The daughter of a successful mystery writer and a P.I. with pizzazz, Regan Reilly is attending her class reunion at St. Polycarp's, England, when the long-dead body of her former roommate turns up under the bushes. It's a case Regan would love to solve, but a prior commitment puts her on a transatlantic cruise.

She shouldn't have fretted. The clues to the crime are following her on the Queen Guinevere. Here, on a ship awash with secret lovers, a fortune hunter, a jewel thief and an assassin, Regan is sailing home--and into the hands of a young girl's killer.

Burned

Regan Reilly is vacationing at the Waikiki Waters Playground and Resort, spending one last girls' weekend with her best gal pal before she ties the knot with Jack "no relation" Reilly. But the fun is suddenly interrupted when the body of Dorinda Dawes, the hotel's gossipy PR woman, washes ashore wearing a valuable lei that once belonged to a Hawaiian princess and was stolen from a Honolulu museum thirty years ago.

The resort manager doesn't believe Dorinda drowned accidentally and persuades Regan to take on the case. The more she starts digging, the, more danger she is in. Can Regan find out what really happened before it's too late for her and the other vacationers at the Waikiki Waters?

Silk and Steel

SHE COULD TAKE HIS NAME,

Lady Kathryn Grayson is a gently bred noblewoman with a privileged future ahead of her... until her greedy uncle decides to steal her fortune by committing her to an insane asylum. Her only escape is to stow away in the carriage of Lucien Montaine, Marquess of Litchfield, who hears her story with disbelief and suspicion. Yet Kathryn's instincts tell her Lord Litchfield is a man of honor -- and her only salvation. Desperate to save herself, she attempts to seduce him and forces him into marriage.

BUT SHE COULDN'T TAKE HIS HEART.

The moment Lucien encounters the ragged, hungry waif with the dignity of a queen, he fights against wanting her. Though captivated by her intellect, strong will and beauty, he will never love the woman who has deceived him.

OR SO SHE THOUGHT...

Though their battle of wills grows stronger every day, desire threatens to overpower his fury. Can this maddening woman who is now his bride melt his heart of steel? Or will her silken touch only strengthen his vow never to fall prey to the dangers of love?

Awaken The Highland Warrior

Secret Warriors. Ancient Evil. Destined Love.

Since the beginning of time, a clan of warriors has walked the earth, their quest to seek and subdue the demons disguised among us. Appointed by the Archangel Michael, these Scottish protectors rely on secrecy, just as the demons they battle.Only vague references in obscure long-ago writings give mention to these mysterious beings. These are the stories of the Connor Clan.

The King's Mistress

Loyalty forced him to marry the king’s cast-off mistress. . .

Given no choice in the matter, Orrick of Silloth marries the king’s mistress. His attempts to deal with her in a thoughful manner are unsuccessful as he discovers emotions he never expected to feel.

Abandoned and rejected by the king, Marguerite is on her own for the first time in her life and does not know who to trust. Her mind tells her Orrick is honorable, but will her heart ever feel the same way?

The Norman's Bride

She had no past.

He could offer her no future.

Yet William Royce de Severin could not quell the waves of desire threatening to engulf him whenever he looked upon Isabel. Battered by life, she remained unbroken in spirit, making him yearn for the impossible — a life unfettered by his own dark secrets, with her forever by his side!

Though recalling nothing of her own identity, Isabel was certain her rescuer, Royce, had been a knight. Every fiber of his being bespoke a chivalry simple seclusion could not hide. And every sinew of his body bestirred a passion that would rouse her to her true self as Royce's heart-sworn lady!

His Enemy's Daughter

Soren Fitzrobert, ‘the Beautiful Bastard’, had been left for dead on the field after the Battle of Hastings and survived by sheer force of will. . . and the need for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that he was. When the only one left bearing the name of his enemy is the man’s daughter, she becomes his target.

Sybilla of Alston has lost all—her brother and father in the battles for control of Britain and now her eyesight as her father’s worst enemy captures her keep and her. Fighting to survive, she never dreamt that beneath the disfigured warrior was a man who could tempt her mind, her body and her soul. As the war comes to an end, the battle between them heats up as they each discover that they must rise from the ashes of their past and find the person they should become or risk losing their only chance at love.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Head Over Heels

Jessie has kept the identity of her son Oliver’s father a secret for years. She’s stunned when she discovers that the man in question, actor Toby Gillespie, has just moved in next door. The truth’s about to come out. One glance at Oliver, and a little mental arithmetic, and Toby has the situation sussed. Meeting the son he never knew he had is the shock of a lifetime. It’s a shock, too, for Toby’s wife, the beautiful Deborah, though she seems to take it in her stride. Would Deborah be so relaxed if she knew just how close Toby wants to get to the mother of his firstborn? As the attraction between them flares up again, Jessie just can’t see her way to a happy ending. But no one is quite what they seem, and there are more surprises to come…

Mixed Doubles

New Year is looming and best friends Liza, Dulcie and Pru are making their resolutions. Liza wants to get married - she's never had any trouble hooking a man. The trouble is, she can never stay interested once she's got him. Dulcie thinks marriage sucks. Her husband, Patrick, may be gorgeous and charming, but the impulsive Dulcie needs more excitement in her life. She wants a divorce. Pru loves her roving husband, and she secretly enjoys the periods when he's making up for his outrageous behaviour. All she wants is to stay married. Liza, Dulcie and Pru have no idea what the New Year has in store - but Fate has some sneaky plans up her sleeve...

Sheer Mischief

It’s not that Janey Sinclair isn’t pleased to see her sister. It's just that being woken at seven by Maxine, complete with police escort, isn’t quite how she’d planned to spend her Sunday. Even so Janey, who’s just rebuilding her life after her husband disappeared, is delighted that her sister’s back in the Cornish town where they grew up. When Maxine sets her sights on Guy Cassidy, an impossibly glamorous fashion photographer, Janey knows there’s no limit to the mischief her sister will get up to in order to dispatch her rivals. But little do they know that the competition is a lot closer to home than they think...

Solo

When Tessa Duvall, a struggling artist, reluctantly agreed to accompany her best friend Holly to a party at the elegant Charrington Grange Hotel, she had every intention of sneaking off early. For parties full of strangers bored the knickers off Tessa and this one proved to be no exception - until she encountered Ross Monahan, whose wicked reputation was as high profile as the hotel he owned and ran with such panache. But whilst Holly set about ensnaring his reluctant brother Max, Tessa simply accepted Ross for what he was, a sensational one-night stand...until she realised, weeks later, that one-night stands can have far-reaching consequences...

Sister

Nothing can break the bond between sisters …

When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life – and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.

The police, Beatrice's fiancé and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.

Your Wicked Ways

Helene, the Countess Godwin, knows there is nothing more unbearably tedious than a virtuous woman. After all, she's been one for ten long years while her scoundrel of a husband lives with strumpets and causes scandal after scandal. So she decides it's time for a change--she styles her hair in the newest, daring mode, puts on a shockingly transparent gown, and goes to a ball like Cinderella, hoping to find a prince charming to sweep her off her feet... and into his bed.

But instead of a prince, she finds only her volatile, infuriatingly handsome... husband, Rees, the Earl Godwin. They'd eloped to Gretna Green in a fiery passion, but passion can sometimes burn too hot to last.

But now, Rees makes her a brazen offer, and Helene decides to become his wife again... but not in name only. No, this time she decides to be very, very wicked indeed.

A Wild Pursuit

It is whispered behind the fans of London's dowagers and in the corners of fashionable ballrooms that scandal follows willfully wild Lady Beatrix Lennox wherever she goes. Three years before, the debutante created a sensation by being found in a distinctly compromising position. Now, the ton has branded her as unmarriageable, her family has called her a vixen, and Beatrix sees no reason not to go after what--and who--she wishes.

And she wants Stephen Fairfax-Lacy, the handsome Earl of Spade. Beatrix, with her brazen suggestions and irresistibly sensuous allure, couldn't be more different from the earl's ideal future bride. Yet Beatrix brings out a wildness in the earl he has tried to deny far too long. Still, he's not about to play love's game by Lady Beatrix's rules. She may be used to being on top in affairs of the heart, but that will soon change.

Fool For Love

The Woman

Lady Henrietta Maclellan longs for the romantic swirl of a London season. But as a rusticating country maiden, she has always kept her sensuous nature firmly under wraps -- until she meets Simon Darby. Simon makes her want to whisper promises late at night, exchange kisses on a balcony, receive illicit love notes. So Henrietta lets her imagination soar and writes...

The Letter

A very steamy love letter that becomes shockingly public. Everyone supposes that he has written it to her, but the truth hardly matters in the face of the scandal to come if they don't marry at once. But nothing has quite prepared Henrietta for the pure sensuality of...

The Man

Simon has vowed he will never turn himself into a fool over a woman. So, while debutantes swoon as he disdainfully strides past the lovely ladies of the ton, he ignores them all... until Henrietta. Could it be possible that he has been the foolish one all along?

Duchess in Love

A Duke in Retreat

Gina was forced into marriage with the Duke of Girton at an age when she'd have been better off in a schoolroom than a ballroom. Directly after the ceremony her handsome spouse promptly fled to the continent, leaving the marriage unconsummated and Gina quite indignant.

A Lady in the Middle

Now, she is one of the most well-known ladies in London ... living on the edge of scandal -- desired by many men, but resisting giving herself to any one.

A Duchess in Love

Finally, Camden, the Duke of Girton, has returned home, to discover that his naïve bride has blossomed into the toast of the ton. Which leaves Cam in the most uncomfortable position of discovering that he has the bad manners to be falling in love -- with his own wife!

Friday, July 1, 2011

How To Knit A Heart Back Home

Lucy Harrison sells books by day and volunteers with the Cypress Hollow fire department by night. Her life is just the way she likes it—full, even-keeled, and smooth—until bad-boy ex-cop Owen Bancroft comes back to town. Lucy has always been fearless, never scared about diving in to help others. When it comes to risking her heart, however, she realizes she's absolutely terrified.

In a small town like Cypress Hollow, everyone knows your business—and there is nowhere to hide. Then Lucy and Owen are thrown together by the discovery of the lost work of local legend, knitting guru Eliza Carpenter. Now Owen, adrift and struggling to redefine himself as a civilian without a badge, will have to learn how to open himself up to life's new possibilities . . . while Lucy decides just how much of herself she's willing to gamble on love.

The Naked Baron

Tell Me What You Want

New to London society and rather...awkward...Lady Grace Belmont would just as soon hide behind the palm trees as dance with a man she doesn't know. But Baron Dawson is on the hunt for a wife. Grace's generous curves and remarkable height do not intimidate him. In fact, it would be more accurate to describe his reaction to the charming newcomer as lust.

Before Grace can so much as gather her thoughts, she finds herself in his arms, committing one shocking impropriety after another. The Baron's devilish attractiveness--to say nothing of his splendid muscles--is simply impossible to resist. Her beloved aunt and chaperone advises patience, but Grace is not about to listen. The handsome baron is whispering such delightful things in her ear...

An Uninvited Ghost

Welcome to Alison Kerby's guesthouse. Ghost sightings twice daily. No breakfast is served, but murder is included.

In exchange for help entertaining her guests on "spooky'' vacations, Alison Kerby told her resident gumshoe ghost that she'd help him on the occasional case. But she didn't think she'd have to go through with it -- after all, who goes to a dead private eye? The answer: other ghosts.

The deceased Scott McFarlane got roped into a prank that may have killed a prominent local resident. With some snooping, it turns out the woman is alive -- that is, of course, until she's murdered...in Alison's house.

Now, between the demands of the guests at her Jersey Shore guesthouse and the arrival of a reality TV crew, Alison must find the killer -- before she sees reality from the other side.

His Mistress By Morning

Oh, how I wish . . .

When a promised inheritance turns out to be a fraud, shy spinster Charlotte Wilmont makes an impetuous wish that despite her lack of charm and fortune, she could capture the heart of the one man whom she's forever adored-Sebastian, Viscount Trent.

Be careful what you wish for . . .

With that utterance, Charlotte awakens shocked to find herself entwined with her beloved Sebastian. But the respectable man she knew is now a most rakish devil and she is . . . well, by some inexplicable magic, London's most infamous mistress.

Even passion comes at a price . . .

The Other Woman's Shoes

Eliza and Martha are sisters. But that's where the similarity ends. Martha appears to have the perfect life: two lovely children and plenty of money. Eliza lives in a one-bedroom flat with her musician boyfriend Greg. When Eliza ditches Greg and turns up on her sister's doorstep, she expects to be swallowed into the sanctuary of Martha's warm loving home. But Martha's husband has just announced he's leaving. For good. Proving to both women that a wedding ring isn't a life raft. Then Martha meets Jack, who is everything she's never wanted, whilst Eliza is dating dozens of men in hope of finding the perfect husband. Suddenly the sisters are faced with the same challenge- is there such as thing as the perfect love? or the perfect life?

Young Wives' Tales

Lucy stole her friend Rose’s ‘happily ever after’ because she wanted Rose’s husband and Lucy always gets what she wants. Big mistake. Rose was the ideal wife and is the ideal mother; Lucy was the perfect mistress. Now neither can find domestic bliss playing each others’ roles. These women need more than a belief in the fairytale as they negotiate messy, modern life.

Paradise

Meredith Bancroft, a serenely beautiful blonde, and Matthew Farrell, an intense, magnetic tycoon, are both haunted by their once-in-a-lifetime love ...betrayed in a conflict of heartache and pain. When the Bancroft family empire is threatened by a hostile takeover attempt, Meredith is forced to turn to Matt. As tensions build between them, bittersweet, poignant memories rise to the surface, leaving them both uncertain, restless ...and falling in love again ....

A Tale of Two Sisters

Dear Avon Books,

Where are my heroes? Whenever I'm reading a book by one of my favorite authors I find I'm falling for the wrong guy -- not the hero, but the other man -- and what I really want is for him to have his own story.

Like Jake Linley, from Someone to Watch Over Me by Lisa Kleypas...that doctor could sit by my bedside if I ever got sick. And Ned Blydon in Splendid by Julia Quinn...he makes me want to learn to waltz! I never thought living in a drafty castle would be much fun until Simon of Ravenswood in Master of Desire by Kinley MacGregor came along.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that these are my men -- when do they get their stories?

Sincerely,
A Romance Fan

Some books are so special that there is more than one hero to love, but only a single story is told. So if you find yourself asking, "Where is my hero?" you'll discover the answer right here in this delicious collection by New York Times bestseller Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestseller Julia Quinn and USA Today bestseller Kinley MacGregor.

Thirty-Six Valentines

Lady Whistledown Tells All!

Society is abuzz when the Season's most promising debutante is jilted by her intended only to be swept away by the deceitful rogue's dashing older-brother- in New York Times bestseller JULIA QUINN's witty, charming, and heartfelt tale.

When the scandalous actions of his beautiful fiancee are recorded in Lady Whistledown's column, a concerned groom-to-be rushes back to London to win his lady's heart once and forever, in SUZANNE ENOCH's enchanting romantic gem.

KAREN HAWKINS captivates with an endearing story of a handsome rogue whose lifelong friendship--and his heart--are tested when the lovely lady in question sets her cap for someone else.

A dazzling and delightful tale by MIA RYAN has a young woman cast out of her home by an insufferable yet charming marquis--who intends to take possession not only of the house... but its former occupant as well!

Counterfeit Lady

Nicole was a passionate French beauty, kidnapped by mistake and swept across turbulent seas... to be the bride of a stranger.

In 18th-century Virginia, the lush lands embraced the rivers that abounded the great plantations. There Clayton awaited his English lady... but when he showered his bride with ardent kisses, the woman he found in his arms was Nicole Courtalain!

The Princess

Her name was Aria... a beautiful, arrogant princess from a small European kingdom. Stranded in a storm of intrigue near the Florida Keys, she is swept ashore and into the arms of dashing J.T. Montgomery, an officer of the American Navy. Disdainful at first, Aria is secretly tantalized by the handsome Lieutenant's brash independence... and beneath her proud reserve, J.T. discovers a woman of sensuous fire. To escape her enemies, they return to her royal domain--with Aria posing as an American bride. But if their daring charade succeeds, Aria must choose-between the kingdom she was born to rule, and the man she was destined to love!

The Maiden

He was wise, strong, and brave. His destiny was to be king. She was young, beautiful, a warrior princess. Her destiny was to love him.

But when first they met, it was not as princess and king -- it was as man and woman only, consumed by a passion so sudden, so deep that the very world exploded with one kiss. Only later, with his touch still burning on her lips, did Jura discover that the knight of her secret tryst had been none other than the hated Prince Rowan! Rowan, who had returned from far-away England to usurp her brother's throne...Rowan, who vowed to unite the wild clans under his rule.

Furious, Jura swore her enmity to the golden-haired prince whose glorious visage tormented her days and haunted her nights. But nothing would stop Rowan from ruling over the warring tribes...and nothing would stop him from winning the fierce and lovely Jura as his bride, his Queen, his love..

Eternity

Carrie Montgomery had grown up with seven adoring older brothers, and she was used to getting her way rather easily. Joshua Greene was looking for a hardworking, practical mail- order bride to help with the farm and feed and clothe his children. Yet from the moment Carrie saw his photograph, saw his devastatingly handsome, sorrowful smile, the petite and pampered beauty knew she was the perfect wife for him.

Josh didn't see it that way. Wed by proxy, he refused to be charmed by his new bride's blonde curls and effervescent laughter, or impressed by her trappings of wealth...even if his son and daughter believed she was a fairy princess come to life. He was furious -- and ready to send her packing, until a near tragedy convinced him that her beauty was more than skin deep. But even after he had yielded to the wild desire that surged between them, Josh could not admit how much he truly needed her. Then an old scandal threatened to re-emerge, and he realized that he could lose her forever..

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