T-bone is known throughout his small town as the hot-headed, knot-bearded, long-haired old man that nobody messes with. He's also the mayor. But when his son Luke calls with the news that his first grandbaby has arrived, T-bone looks in the mirror and doesn't see a man worthy of a baby girl. So he cleans up, buys some clothes, and shocks the whole family by showing up at the hospital looking like a new man. And spots a lovely maternity nurse. Ruth has worked in labor and delivery since her husband's death nine years ago. Her full-grown daughter loaded Tinder on her phone as a joke, but Ruth isn't sure dating will ever be part of her life again. Until T-bone. Their gentle love affair is the talk of both their towns, but there's more than a lake dividing them. T-bone's a professed bachelor and owns an RV park. Ruth is from society, and spends her days running charities alongside her wealthy friends. It will take the help of the town, plus a nudge from their kids, to convince T-bone and Ruth that there is nothing sweeter than one belated kiss. _____ Don't miss all of Abby's books: -- The Sweetest Match: Sweet Small Town Second Chance -- The Perfect Disaster: Small Town Dog Lover Sports Romance -- The Irresistible Spark: Sweet Small Town Firefighter Romance -- Mistletoe Summer: Sweet Small Town Grumpy Sunshine Military Romance -- The Unexpected Shelter: Sweet Stranger in a Small Town Romance -- The Special Delivery: Sweet Small Town Single Dad and Nanny Romance -- Belated Kiss: Sweet Late in Life Mature Romance (over sixty) -- Runaway Cove: Small Town Family Saga on the New England Coast
One thing Rachel Hardison knew for sure was that she did not want to find herself twice divorced at age twenty nine as was her older sister Devon, who was in the midst of ending her second marriage, so since all every man ever wanted in her experience was just one thing and she had no intention of satisfying their boody calls, at age twenty four, she had contented herself with being single. And while she would love to find a man who would be able to look past her face and her body and love her for herself the way she would want to love him, Rachel simply did not see that happening. So when she arrived in Alaska for her older brother Georges wedding to his boss, Stacey, an Alaska native, the last thing Rachel arrived looking for was a man. Instead, what was on her mind was sightseeing and plenty of it, and with George having lived in Anchorage for five years now, he would know every nook and cranny to take her to. Only problem she discovered once having arrived at the fancy Anchorage hotel owned by his fiance was that George was too busy putting last-minute touches on Saturdays wedding as well as handling last-minute hotel business in preparation for his and Staceys honeymoon to show her around. And with Alaska being the habitat of bears and other such wildlife and wilderness trappings that could prove dangerous to a visitor untaught in its ways, George offered to get one of his groomsmen to stand in as a tour guide for her. It is on that note that he asks her to guess whos standing in as his best man, and when she asks him who and he tells her Felix Latham, Rachel cant believe it! Felix Latham--his gorgeous best friend from college, who fell head-over-heels in love with their sister Devon, who dated him briefly before dumping him to the wayside and forgetting him completely! That said, Rachel had not heard his name in ten years, surprised George had kept in touch with him after all that time. And indeed George had--to hear him tell it, Felix was presently an actor on a New York soap opera, had been for six years, and had the Emmys to prove it. Rachel simply couldnt believe that Felix was that successful, much less a famous actor! George then suggests that Felix would make an excellent tour guide for her, and when Rachel naturally asks why when hes not a native any more than is she, George tells her that hes been at the hotel for over a week now, having upset half his female staff getting them to show him around while theyre off-duty. Rachel doesnt doubt that for a minute, always having thought of Felix as a lady killer, with the exception of being unable to keep Devon wrapped around his finger. Small wonder hed become an actor, she thought! And so she agrees to let Felix be her tour guide provided hes up to it--just as she anticipates the reaction shes going to get when he sees how Georges kid sister filled out since the last time he saw her, not to mention she wasnt exactly a dog, either! And indeed again, when George finally does reintroduce his old friend to the kid sister he hasnt seen in ten years, Felix cant believe it any more than he can keep his eyes off her. In fact, despite the fact that he is still clearly in love with Devon, the disappointment he feels at learning from Rachel that Devon is in the midst of a divorce and thus wont be there to attend the wedding is almost eclipsed by his excitement at the thought of showing her all the fabulous places in and around Anchorage that he has been avidly exploring the length of his stay thus far, knowing shell provide a most pleasant and familiar distraction. And so he agrees to be her tour guide for the next three days and they have so much fun, not to mention, so much in common, that Rachel is bent on keeping it from happening despite Felixs equal determination that it does. But just as the inevitable happens and they are about to give in to their attraction, whats going to happ
Ever since the Loveborne virus wiped out half of humanity decades ago, people steer clear of each other. Twenty-four-year-old Alias Novar is no exception. He lives alone in a windowless apartment with a robot he fixed himself, working two remote jobs and barely earning enough to eat, let alone take care of his sick mother. He’s a great runner, but he can’t outrun the half-life he leads, enslaved to fear. He also can’t keep paying hospital bills on his meager salary. When a lucrative but risky job opportunity presents itself, he’s desperate enough to apply—even if his prospective employer is none other than Deon Dehive. Everyone knows Mr. Dehive. He’s the business mogul whose mysterious offices lie in the woods outside of New York. And unlike most, he encourages social interactions, claiming that people have gained security with antivirals but haven’t regained what they need most: each other. Miraculously, Alias gets hired as Mr. Dehive’s personal assistant. From a technical standpoint, the job’s easy enough. It’s the constant interactions that keep him on edge. Deon’s teasing smiles and challenging questions reveal kindness and a keen interest that Alias shouldn’t return but is helpless to deny. And therein lies danger. Medicine may have come a long way, but love still kills.
An anesthesiologist relates her post-divorce discovery of a brain aneurysm and her descent into self-destructive behavior, a period marked by dysfunctional dates, cruel losses and challenging accidents before she resolved to take control of her life and ultimately fell in love. A first book.
A hilarious satirical tale of two guys one white and one black after blotting their copybooks back home are thrown together as mercenaries in Africa. From border disputes to uncovering a source of blood diamonds, shipwrecked and captured by pirates our heroes go from one diabolical mess to another their journey is fast moving, extremely funny, includes blood and guts with a little sex thrown for good measure. Enjoy!
In The Wages of Goodness Michael Blumenthal explores the costs and the wages of three ruling obsessions in our lives: love, grief, and virtue. Reacting to a tendency in contemporary poetry to avoid such "sentimental" and abstract notions as goodness, Blumenthal succeeds in making ideas live through the particulars of each poem.
Enter the eerie realm of Algernon Blackwood's haunting novella, ""The Damned."" This masterful tale invites you into a world where the supernatural lurks just beneath the surface, blurring the lines between reality and the unknown. As Blackwood's captivating story unfolds, you’ll encounter mysterious entities that challenge the very fabric of human understanding. The narrative weaves a spell of suspense and intrigue, leaving you questioning the nature of existence itself. But here's the unsettling thought that will grip you: What if the true horror lies not in the entities themselves, but in the secrets they hold? Are you ready to confront the darkness that waits just out of sight? In this compelling work, Blackwood explores the themes of isolation, fear, and the unexplainable, inviting you to consider the fragile boundaries between the known and the unknown. Each page draws you deeper into a world where the unimaginable becomes all too real. Are you prepared to face the chilling revelations within ""The Damned""? Here's your chance to not just read a classic but to engage with the unsettling mysteries that lie within. Will you dare to discover the truth behind the damned? Seize the opportunity to own a piece of literary brilliance. Purchase ""The Damned"" now, and embark on a journey into the depths of fear and fascination.
THE REGENERATION OF LORD ERNIE I John Hendricks was bear-leading at the time. He had originally studied for Holy Orders, but had abandoned the Church later for private reasons connected with his faith, and had taken to teaching and tutoring instead. He was an honest, upstanding fellow of five-and-thirty, incorruptible, intelligent in a simple, straightforward way. He played games with his head, more than most Englishmen do, but he went through life without much calculation. He had qualities that made boys like and respect him; he won their confidence. Poor, proud, ambitious, he realised that fate offered him a chance when the Secretary of State for Scotland asked him if he would give up his other pupils for a year and take his son, Lord Ernie, round the world upon an educational trip that might make a man of him. For Lord Ernie was the only son, and the Marquess’s influence was naturally great. To have deposited a regenerated Lord Ernie at the castle gates might have guaranteed Hendricks’ future. After leaving Eton prematurely the lad had come under Hendricks’ charge for a time, and with such excellent results—‘I’d simply swear by that chap, you know,’ the boy used to say—that his father, considerably impressed, and rather as a last resort, had made this proposition. And Hendricks, without much calculation, had accepted it. He liked ‘Bindy’ for himself. It was in his heart to ‘make a man of him,’ if possible. They had now been round the world together and had come up from Brindisi to the Italian Lakes, and so into Switzerland. It was middle October. With a week or two to spare they were making leisurely for the ancestral halls in Aberdeenshire.... II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI THE SACRIFICE I II III THE DAMNED I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX A DESCENT INTO EGYPT I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV I II
Algernon Henry Blackwood was an English novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The son of a preacher, Blackwood had a life-long interest in the supernatural, the occult, and spiritualism, and firmly believed that humans possess latent psychic powers. Lovecraft wrote about Blackwood: "He is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere." His powerful story "The Willows," which effectively describes another dimension impinging upon our own, was reckoned by Lovecraft to be not only "foremost of all" Blackwood's tales but the best "weird tale" of all time. The Wendigo The Willows John Silence The Wave The Man Whom The Trees Loved The Centaur Jimbo Julius LeVallon The Human Chord The Kit-Bag The Damned and Other Stories The Promise Of Air A Prisoner In Fairyland The Garden of Survival Extra Day The Bright Messenger The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories Four Weird Tales Day And Night Stories Incredible Adventures The Wolves Of God Karma
