It is several months after the victorious Battle of the Zinchara (see The Invisible Chains — Part 3: Bonds of Blood) and daily life in Lorseth Castle has returned to normal.The prince's pages have taken up their usual routine of exercise, study, service, raiding Lorseth's taverns, and bickering among themselves. Everything seems peaceful enough until a village girl accuses one of the pages—and a master of pages, no less—of having raped her, leaving her with child. A charge which Eynurm of Tarnwood vigorously denies.Since there is no proof and Eynurm has a solid reputation everyone concerned thinks that this straw fire will be easily stomped out. That is, until the maiden in question is found dead with a dagger in her belly. A dagger that bears the crest of Eynurm's House.Luckily for Eynurm, he has two good friends, Rahendo and Ryhunzo, who believe he has been set up and who swear they won't rest until they have discovered the real...

A land lost to time. A romance shaped by fate. Will a couple from worlds apart unlock a love for the ages?On an isolated South Atlantic island, Lydia Colburn has devoted her life to becoming the first female doctor in her peaceful 1860s-era settlement. But when a mysterious man from World War III plummets from the sky, she risks everything to treat his wounds. And while his presence is scandalous enough, his modern machinery could expose their secluded community to marauding outsider raids.Lieutenant Connor Bradshaw is on a desperate mission to locate fresh water for his battle-scarred, contemporary world. When an equipment malfunction maroons him on an uncharted isle, he’s struck to the core by the beautiful healer who rescues him. And the longer he stays, the more enraptured he becomes with her way of life—and her tender heart.Initially convinced she must remain single for her profession, Lydia warms to a future with the charming refugee. But Connor is terrified his missing gear will draw warmongers to ravage their resources. And one ignorant islander has a mad plan that could bring all Connor’s fears to fruition…Can Lydia and Connor keep the haven safe from invasion and preserve their timeless devotion?

A race against time Courtney series thriller from the Master of Adventure, Wilbur SmithIt's 1943 and the tides of the Second World War are changing: the Germans are losing and the Allies are on their way. Special Operations Executive, Saffron Courtney - daughter of the celebrated soldier Leon Courtney - is sailing from the west coast of Scotland to New York on the Queen Mary. Her mission is two-fold: to gather support for SOE, but, more treacherously, to uncover a Nazi spy ring and a mole deep within the British Embassy. As Churchill and Roosevelt, two of the most powerful men on earth, are about to begin talks that will determine British and American military strategy for the next two years, it is vital that the enemy don't find out their secrets. Meanwhile, what Saffron doesn't realise is that while she is on the tail of a dangerous spy, there are equally dangerous agents after her, desperate for justice following the death of Hauptsturmführer...

"Excellent. This immersive, fast-paced novel will have readers on the edges of their seat." —Publishers Weekly Fans of Mary Jo Putney and Sabrina Jeffries will fall for this delightful story of a high-spirited lady determined to marry for love—but betrothed to a tempting spy whose work has put them both their hearts...and their lives...on the line. Betrothed to a man she has barely met, Lady Faith Landon calls upon her three best friends—the self-proclaimed Wallflowers of West Lane—to help uncover the secrets of her mysterious fiancé. Her suspicions are aroused when she learns that he has recently returned from France. Is he a traitor to his country? The truth is quite the opposite. Nicholas Ellsworth, Duke of Breckenridge, is a secret agent for the English Crown who has just completed a risky mission to infiltrate Napoleon's spy network. After his adventures, Nicholas craves the peace and...

Settled in Cornwall again, Maisie still has a book in the top one hundred — and a film rights deal to boot, thanks to Arnold — although she's still a maid at the Penmarrow, at least for now.Life seems impossibly idyllic as of old, with Dean resettling at his cottage in Port Hewer and its guest room now regularly occupied by Alex. Maisie remembers to call him 'Sidney' on a full-time basis as he teaches her the secrets to chess, and begins reading the forgotten manuscript to his unfinished fourth novel.When Sidney makes the decision to sell his London flat, it looks as if his return is permanent. Adele isn't happy about that choice, however, and making her feelings all too clear to the one person she knows could change his mind. Additionally, the one secret Dean hasn't told Maisie changes everything about the fourth novel's role in the career of Alistair Davies. At the Penmarrow, wedding bells hint at a future shakeup that...

This short story will give you the talking points, so that on your next museum visit you can pose perceptive questions to the Curator about provenance and authenticity of the artworks. Lee Roberts will also instruct how to deal with the FBI.What Does a Strip Club, a Dead Man and a Dove Ice Cream Bar All Have in Common?Peaches DonnellyPeaches has a major problem: she's just been fired.Unaccustomed to filling her days with nothingness, she embroils herself toute suite in the recent murder of a childhood friend.However, standing between her and the solving of this heinous crime are two pesky daughters, a selfish opera singer sister, the diet from hell and two sexy men she can't resist.Add to this bubbling pot a hasty decision to go undercover as a stripper and you have a story rife with drama, laughs and a little dash of danger.Follow Peaches and the always funny cast of characters in this first installment of a rollicking series of cozy mysteries.

The past is never far behind.…Ellen Kellaway, orphaned at age five, was raised by wealthy cousins, but was never allowed to forget that her every advantage was owed to the charity of others.  However, when the son of a powerful London family asks for her hand in marriage, her world is opened up to untold wealth and social position. She never imagined that such an unlikely dream would come true. Despite these wonderful new developments in her life, Ellen continues to be wracked b the bad dreams that have haunted her since childhood.  What is the meaning of the lifelong nightmare—the image of an unfamiliar room, a door opening and behind it a dreadful presence? Perhaps it is a message urging her to uncover the secrets of her long-lost family—the secrets of the ancient home of the Kellaways on the Far Island, off the wild coast of Cornwall.

When Sybil returns to her London roots, the past comes back to haunt her.Actress-turned-medium Sybil Ingram is enjoying life in Paris with her new husband, violinist Roderick Brooke, when her past suddenly catches up with her in the form of her pushy little sister. Polly wants Sybil to help her become an actress—which means getting the blessing of their father, who is near death.Back in London, Sybil's homecoming is chilly. Even worse is her reunion with her former mentor, Gerhardt Atherton, who is still falsely claiming that Sybil embezzled from the theater troupe. When Atherton is found dead, his business partner, Ivor Treherne, is arrested for murder. But Sybil isn't satisfied that the police have unearthed the whole story.Matters reach a crisis when the drama in her family takes a supernatural form. As she turns to a fellow medium to help her banish a poltergeist and determine who really killed Atherton, Sybil soon realizes that someone is trying...

Split from: Complete Works of H. Rider Haggard

From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of North and South: The first in a saga about a German immigrant and his family’s rise in 20th-century America. The tide of the twentieth century is rising upon the world, and on its crest rides the Crown family. Young Pauli Kroner, freshly arrived in America from the streets of Berlin, makes his way to the mansion of his millionaire uncle in Chicago, looking to fulfill his dreams. His uncle, Joe Crown, is a self-made brewery tycoon who rules his domain with an iron hand—especially when it comes to his own family of defiantly rebellious children and a wife yearning for her own liberation. In this new world, Pauli will rise as his own man and find his destiny in the early days of motion pictures. Surrounded by relations close and distant, proud and vengeful, each struggling to find themselves at the dawn of a new era, he will witness and experience the violence of the Pullman Strike, and find love in the arms of a woman who can never be his as he follows the march of history, intertwined with such figures as the audacious Theodore Roosevelt, the ruthless Thomas Edison, the fading western icon Buffalo Bill, and many more. Named a New York Times Notable Book, Homeland is a “first-rate historical . . . chock-full of fascinating period detail, [Jakes’s] captivating story brings to life the sounds, smells and tastes of turn-of-the-century America in a manner comparable to Michener’s Hawaii and Doctorow’s Ragtime” (Publishers Weekly). This ebook features an illustrated biography of John Jakes including rare images from the author’s personal collection.