Jilly lay on her fat little stomach watching the sheets flapping in the wind. She lay perfectly still; only here eyes moved. Suddenly, Jilly raced towards the sheets. Then she was flying through the air, her mouth full of sheet and the wind blowing wildly. "Wicked Jilly!" Nanna cried. Nanna's life becomes hectic when she decides to buy a new dog as company for her old dog, Tash. 'Wicked' Jilly gets up to all sorts of mischief. Poor Nanna needs copious cups of tea and many good lie-downs to cope with Jilly's antics. But when Jilly runs away, Nanna realises just how special she is.
Recently widowed Etta Bancroft nurses an injured filly back to health. A village syndicate helps her, putting the filly into training and the horse is eventually entered in the Grand National. Meet the rich capricious owners, obsessive trainers, gallant stable lads and lasses and tough, brave jockeys ... and fall in love with the valiant Mrs Wilkinson as she gallops into your heart. -- Cover.
Anne Rice, creator of the Vampire Lestat, the Mayfair witches and the amazing worlds they inhabit, now gives us the first in a new series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot, who has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead. The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded café, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life. Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together. Look for Anne Rice’s new book, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, coming November 29, 2016.
CLASS IS DEAD! Or so everyone claims. Who better to refute this than Jilly Cooper! Describing herself as 'upper middle class', Jilly claims that snobbery is very much alive and thriving! Meet her hilarious characters! People like Harry Stow-Crat, Mr and Mrs Nouveau-Richards, Samantha and Gideon Upward, and Jen Teale and her husband Brian. Roar with laughter at her horribly unfair observations on their everyday pretensions - their sexual courtships, choice of furnishings, clothes, education, food, careers and ambitions... For they will all remind you of people that you know!
Rupert Campbell-Black takes centre stage once more, this time in the cut-throat world of flat racing. Rupert is consumed by one obsession: that Love Rat, his adored grey horse, be proclaimed champion stallion. He longs to trounce Roberto's Revenge, the stallion owned by his detested rival Cosmo Rannaldini, which means abandoning his racing empire at Penscombe and his darling wife Taggie, and chasing winners in the richest races worldwide, from Dubai to Los Angeles to Melbourne. Luckily, the fort at home is held by Rupert's assistant Gav, a genius with horses, fancied by every stable lass, but damaged by alcoholism and a vile wife. When Gala, a grieving but ravishing Zimbabwean widow moves to Penscombe as carer for Rupert's wayward father, it is not just Gav who is attracted to her: a returning Rupert finds himself dangerously tempted. Gala adores horses, and when she switches to working in the yard, her carer's job is taken by a devastatingly handsome South African man who claims to be gay but seems far keener on caring for the angelic Taggie. And as increasingly sinister acts of sabotage strike at Penscombe, the game of musical loose boxes gathers apace . . . ----------------------------------- 'Packed with warmth, wit, and unforgettable characters, this is an utterly joyous read' Daily Express 'Pure, unadulterated joy' Sophie Kinsella 'It's Cooper doing what she does best ... it's a thoroughly enjoyable roll in the hay' The Times 'Witty and wonderful, as always' Trisha Ashley 'This endlessly fun humdinger of a novel is an absolute riot' Heat
Soon to be an original streaming series on Hulu! "Fun, sexy and unputdownable--a classic." --Marian Keyes "Flawlessly entertaining." --Helen Fielding "Joyful and mischievous." --Jojo Moyes Fleabag meets Succession as rival TV execs bid for the local franchise in this exuberant romp filled with drama, steam, and comedy. Into the cut-throat world of Corinium television comes Declan O'Hara, a mega-star of great glamour and integrity with a radiant feckless wife, a handsome son and two ravishing teenage daughters. Living rather too closely across the valley is Rupert Campbell-Black, divorced and as dissolute as ever, and now the Tory Minister for Sport. Declan needs only a few days at Corinium to realise that the Managing Director, Lord Baddingham, is a crook who has recruited him merely to help retain the franchise for Corinium. Baddingham has also enticed Cameron Cook, a gorgeous but domineering woman executive, to produce Declan's programme. Declan and Cameron detest each other, provoking a storm of controversy into which Rupert plunges with his usual abandon. As a rival group emerges to pitch for the franchise, reputations ripen and decline, true love blossoms and burns, marriages are made and shattered, and sex raises its (delicious) head at almost every throw as, in bed and boardroom, the race is on to capture the Cotswold Crown.
A remote hotel. A murder mystery. A missing woman. Everyone has a role to play, but what’s real and what’s part of the game? “Jilly Gagnon’s well-crafted maze of clues and shifting realities is the perfect read for fans of Lucy Foley.”—Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten The weekend getaway at a gorgeous hotel should have been perfect. But Becca is smarting from her husband Blake’s betrayal and knows that the trip is just an expensive apology attempt. Still, the drinks are strong, and the weekend has an elaborate 1920s murder mystery theme. She decides to get into the spirit and enjoy their stay. Before long, the game is afoot: Famed speakeasy songstress Ida Crooner is found “murdered,” and it’s up to the guests to sniff out the culprit. Playing the role of Miss Debbie Taunte, an ingenue with a dark past, Becca dives into the world of pun-heavy clues, hammy acting, and secret passages, hoping to take her mind off her marital troubles. Then, the morning after they arrive, the actress playing Ida’s maid fails to reappear for her role. Everyone assumes she flaked out on the job, but when snooping for clues as “Debbie,” Becca finds evidence that the young woman may not have left of her own free will. Told over a nail-biting forty-eight hours and interspersed with in-game clues, set pieces, and character histories from the flapper-filled mystery nested inside a modern one, All Dressed Up is a loving tribute to classic whodunits and a riveting exploration of the secrets we keep.
No picture ever came more beautiful than Raphael's Pandora... Discovered by a dashing young lieutenant, Raymond Kelvedon in a Normandy Chateau in 1944, she had cast her spell over his family - all artists and dealers - for fifty years. Hanging in a turret of their lovely Cotswold house, Pandora witnessed Raymond's tempestuous wife Galena both entertaining a string of lovers, and giving birth to her four children: Jupiter, Alizarin, Jonathan and superbrat Sienna. Then an exquisite stranger rolls up, claiming to be a long-lost daughter of the family, setting the three Belvedon brothers at each other's throats. Accompanying her is her fatally glamorous boyfriend, whose very different agenda includes an unhealthy interest in the Raphael. When the painting is stolen during a fireworks party, the police are called and a global search ensues to discover once and for all who stole the masterpiece and who it actually belongs to. Will passionate love triumph, and will Pandora be restored to her rightful home? ---------------------------------- 'Cooper's sheer exuberance and energy are contagious' The Times 'The whole thing is a riot - vastly superior to anything else in a glossy cover' Daily Telegraph 'This is Jilly on top form with her most sparkling novel to date' Evening Standard 'One reads her for her joie de vivre, her maudlin romanticism, her love of arty references and her razor sharp sense of humour. Oh, and the sex' New Statesman
Don't miss the third racy instalment of the Rutshire Chronicles series, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Tackle! and Riders 'Compulsively readable and funny...the irrepressible Jilly remains irresistible' The Times 'Polo is the best thing she's ever done' Daily Mail 'A work of towering genius' Evening Standard ___________________________ Ricky France-Lynch is moody, macho, and magnificent. He had a large crumbling estate, a nine-goal polo handicap, and a beautiful wife who was fair game for anyone with a cheque book. He also had the adoration of fourteen-year-old Perdita MacLeod. Perdita couldn't wait to leave her dreary school and become a polo player.The polo set were ritzy, wild, and gloriously promiscuous.Perdita thought she'd get along with them very well. But before she had time to grow up, Ricky's life exploded into tragedy, and Perdita turned into a brat who loved only her horses - and Ricky France-Lynch. Ricky's obsession to win back his wife, and Perdita's to win both Ricky and a place as a top class polo player, take the reader on a wildly exciting journey - to the estancias of Argentina, to Palm Beach and Deauville, and on to the royal polo fields of England and the glamorous pitches of California where the most heroic battle of all is destined to be fought - a match that is about far more than just the winning of a huge silver cup... _________________________ Readers love Polo: 'This book is Jilly Cooper at her best' 'A glorious romp' 'A really good holiday escapist read' 'ABSOLUTELY terrific' 'You can't beat Jilly Cooper'
“Lush. Delicious. Bewildering. And darkly magical. Popovic has created a world that you tumble into from the very first words and wish you could stay in forever.” —Evelyn Skye, author of The Crown's Game “Wicked Like a Wildfire was like devouring a succulent fairy fruit—it will rob your time, settle into your dreams, and leave you starving for more.” —Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen Fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo will be bewitched by Lana Popovic's debut YA fantasy novel about a bargain that binds the fates—and hearts—of twin sisters to a force larger than life. All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love. But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever? Wicked Like a Wildfire is the first in a two-book series. Readers will be rapt with anticipation for the sequel.
