Sara Richardson, a middle-aged clergyman’s wife, wakes up one morning with the thought that something out of the ordinary was going to happen. As she carried her coffee into the family room, the thought from earlier almost made her spill her coffee. She was told to go to the window near the front door, and look out. Not wanting to disobey what she thought might be a message from God, she does what it asked. The spot nearest the door was still in the shadows. As her eyes adjusted, she made out what appeared to be a body lying just feet from her door. Not believing what she saw, she closed her eyes then looked again. Sure enough, there was a body! It was an old woman, lying face down, her long white hair spread around her face. Who was this old woman and what was she doing on Sara’s front lawn? Was she alive, or God forbid dead? Follow Sara’s journey as she takes a leap of faith into doing what God asked of her, with no questions asked.
Enter the world of the Others in the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s thrilling fantasy series: a place where unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—rule the Earth and prey on the human race. As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others. Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.
After losing her husband to a sudden heart attack, Tess Mathews escapes to Bora Bora to lay her husband and sorrow to rest. What she doesn't expect is a new beginning.Tom Clemmins is an A-list actor whose life revolves around work and an onslaught of women. He travels to Bora Bora for a much-needed break. Tom has a few ideas of how he'll enjoy his vacation, but love isn't one of them. Until he sees Tess.Reserving a private shark-feeding excursion to scatter her husband's ashes into the lagoon, Tess is furious when Mr. Hollywood bribes his way onto the boat, leaving her no other choice but to share the boat ride.Tess is torn between tremendous guilt and zealous lust when their boat ride turns into a week full of romance and desire neither thought imaginable. Utterly smitten with a woman for the first time in his life, Tom casts his commitment phobia aside and whisks Tess off to Malibu where he introduces her as his “girlfriend” on the red carpet. As the paparazzi besiege, can Tess survive the media blitz that ensues in order to find her second chance at love?
This contemporary romance takes place on the plains of Texas and the tropical paradise of the Island of Kauai, Hawaii. Tessa ODell, a young travel writer, meets and marries rich oil/ranching magnate Clark Marlowe. Their marriage is idyllic for ten years. He dies suddenly, and Tessas grief is deep and protracted. Her mother-in-law Jonita, a crusty old Texas ranching lady, along with her ex-boss, editor of a travel magazine, finally persuade Tessa to go back to work for the magazine. Her first assignment is to cover the Pacific Polo Matches on the island of Kauai. Tessa meets Armand Buteaud, captain of the French polo team and an international play boy. He sweeps her off her feet. She also meets Gil Dobson who is staying with his daughter and grandchildren in the resort compound where Tessa is housed. Gil is middle aged and a talented architect and developer who is moving his ecologically oriented business to Hawaii. Over time, Tessa is drawn more and more into her infatuation with Armand who romances her, but she finds she trusts him less and less. Gil shares his love of nature with her and takes her on several adventures on the island: sailing, flying a biplane in the canyons, beach trips with his granddaughters, dancing the night away. Tessa is drawn to him but senses that he and his family have some secret that they are not sharing with her. A near fatal accident causes Tessa to face her fears...of the water, of the past, and of new relationships. Tessa is finally able to bid aloha to her life in Texas. Carol Walt, the author, guarantees a happy ending to this novel which she calls the quintessential beach book. She researched the book while on the island of Kauai, so the descriptions of the scenery, the polo matches, the adventures and beauty on the island are as close to the reality of this lovely island as possible. Carol thinks that women who have been to Hawaii, or those who would just like to dream of going there, will enjoy this book.
As the holidays approach, Tessa -- a warm, ugly-sweater loving personal assistant -- finds herself spending yet another holiday away from her family. Unable to fly home, she must find something else to do with her time. Little does she know, she's in for the holiday of a lifetime when she gets called into her boss's office three days before Christmas. Colette Sylvestre is not someone you could call warm -- collected, intelligent, charismatic, maybe, but not warm. She is, however, in the running to take over her family business, a prestigious publishing house; all she has to do is convince her grandfather she has settled down enough. Her cousin Bernard, however, is determined to undermine her and take the position for himself. To convince her grandfather, Colette must bring a date back home to celebrate Christmas with her family. The only catch? Colette is currently single. n a spur of the moment decision, she asks her personal assistant Tess to be her date for the holidays. What follows is a series of holiday related hijinks, from a fancy gala ball to awkward conversations with Colette's family as Tess tries to convince them she really is Colette’s girlfriend. When Tess realizes her little crush on Colette might not be so little, things are complicated even more and she has to decide whether or not to tell Colette. Will Colette return her feelings? Will they be able to convince her family their relationship is real? And, most importantly, will Colette ever forgive Tess for her frankly awful sweater choice?
The minute Tess Phillips crossed the finish line in the Chicago Marathon, her life began to change. As the female winner in this year’s race, she was handed a check for fifty thousand dollars! The money would keep her fledgling recycling business afloat for awhile, but there was one catch. If she wanted to keep the money, she had to let a local sports writer shadow her for an entire week. Although Tess didn’t mind sharing her training tips, she couldn’t afford to have a reporter prying into her personal life. Especially a reporter like Nick Bartholomew. With his mocking grin, his aggressive style, and his intense blue eyes, Nick wouldn’t let one detail slip by. Once Nick started nosing around, Tess’s business problems were sure to leak out. She had to avoid him – even if he was the most attractive man she’d ever met. From the start, Nick Bartholomew was not pleased with this assignment. He was sure that Tess Phillips was a complete fraud. No one could win a marathon on their first try. But one look at Tess’s clear blue eyes made Nick doubt his reporter’s instincts. They weren’t the eyes of a hustler. They were too trusting, too vulnerable. If a man stared into Tess Phillips’s eyes long enough, he would begin to believe in all sorts of fairy tales. Before he lost his objectivity, Nick had to cut to the chase. It was time to uncover Tess’s secret—and he was the best man for the job. "Margaret Watson, a star in the world of contemporary romance, grabs you on the opening page and keeps you reading to the happily ever after." -- New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Clark is everything Tess Ellison thinks she wants in a husband. He is stable, a good provider, the kind of man who can allow Tess to fulfill her mother's dying wish: that her mentally-handicapped brother, Robby, will never be put into an institution. Robby loves to introduce his sister to every new person he meets, including Greg Wheaton, the new social worker in town. It is obvious that Robby is encouraging Tess and Greg to become friends. Soon Tess is forced to admit a marriage of amiable partenership may not be for her. Can she trust God to keep her mother's dying wish and give her the man she loves?
A woman seeks her destiny among a clan of nomadic warriors trapped in interstellar intrigue: “Absorbing . . . There should be more SF like this” (Jo Walton). In the past, humans were the dominant star-traveling species in the universe—until the Chapalil came, conquered, and absorbed the Earth into their intergalactic empire. One of the only humans ever granted nobility by the Chapalil, Charles Soerenson once led a failed rebellion against the alien overlords. Now his sister, Terese, has abandoned her homeworld, impelled by a broken heart to seek a new life among the worlds her brother rules. On Rhui, a planet off-limits to interstellar voyagers, Tess inadvertently stumbles upon a dangerous Chapalil conspiracy—and only the timely arrival of the Jaran saves her from near-certain death in the wilderness. A tribe of nomadic humans roaming the plains of Rhui, the Jaran have long forgotten their ancient Earth history and heritage. Intrigued by their world and their ways, Tess shares an immediate emotional connection with Ilya, the Jaran’s brilliant, charismatic leader, a man of extraordinary passion and vision. But despite her growing loyalties to this proud chieftain and his people, Tess must take care. For Ilya’s ambitions threaten to trigger violent planetary upheaval. And the Jaran have been chosen to play an unwitting role in a plot that could have powerful repercussions far beyond the nomads’ volatile world. The first book in Kate Elliott’s acclaimed Novels of the Jaran, this masterful science fiction classic combines rich characterization and world-building with adventure, intrigue, and romance. It is both a magnificent introduction to a compelling universe and a stellar standalone reading experience. Jaran is the first volume of the Novels of the Jaran, which continue with An Earthly Crown, His Conquering Sword, and The Law of Becoming.
Unknown bones, untold secrets, and unsolved crimes from the distant past cast ominous shadows on the present in the dazzling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. Present day: Julia Hamill has made a horrifying discovery on the grounds of her new home in rural Massachusetts: a skull buried in the rocky soil–human, female, and, according to the trained eye of Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, scarred with the unmistakable marks of murder. But whoever this nameless woman was, and whatever befell her, is knowledge lost to another time. Boston, 1830: In order to pay for his education, Norris Marshall, a talented but penniless student at Boston Medical College, has joined the ranks of local “resurrectionists”–those who plunder graveyards and harvest the dead for sale on the black market. Yet even this ghoulish commerce pales beside the shocking murder of a nurse found mutilated on the university hospital grounds. And when a distinguished doctor meets the same grisly fate, Norris finds that trafficking in the illicit cadaver trade has made him a prime suspect. To prove his innocence, Norris must track down the only witness to have glimpsed the killer: Rose Connolly, a beautiful seamstress from the Boston slums who fears she may be the next victim. Joined by a sardonic, keenly intelligent young man named Oliver Wendell Holmes, Norris and Rose comb the city–from its grim cemeteries and autopsy suites to its glittering mansions and centers of Brahmin power–on the trail of a maniacal fiend who lurks where least expected . . . and who waits for his next lethal opportunity. With unflagging suspense and pitch-perfect period detail, The Bone Garden deftly interweaves the thrilling narratives of its nineteenth- and twenty-first century protagonists, tracing the dark mystery at its heart across time and place to a finale as ingeniously conceived as it is shocking. Bold, bloody, and brilliant, this is Tess Gerritsen’s finest achievement to date. This ebook edition contains a special preview of Tess Gerritsen’s I Know a Secret. "The story, which digs up a dark Boston of times long past, entices readers to keep turning pages long after their bedtimes."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
All Henry Preston Taylor wants to do is oust the President of the United States, and he can't understand why it's so difficult. Using the tried and true methods he's employed in the past, Taylor has created "The President Project," a vast conspiracy which he feels will guarantee success this time. The only problem is the media; the most popular talk show hosts have dropped like flies, due to drug and sex scandals, and there are very few outlets available to peddle his wares. He decides that the only way he can be successful is to control the message himself, through his own radio talk show. Enter Merton Greeley, a 30-something janitor who is thrust onto the radio due to extreme circumstances. Greeley is loud, bombastic, and phenomenally stupid; the perfect foil for Taylor's plans. Or is he? Talent on Loan is a raucous ride through the world of politics and media, which leaves no stone unturned and no nose un-bloodied.
