The way to a cheating man's heart is through . . . an elephant?Professional horse trainer Neelie Sterling somehow missed the fact that her veterinarian husband, Matt, was having an affair with his blonde, pretty business partner. Neelie often misses things. (When Matt originally told her he was getting a colleague to help with the practice, she thought he said collie—and Neelie likes dogs.) Now the blonde is saying she's pregnant, and Neelie's life is in a tailspin. But she sees an opportunity to patch up the holes in her disintegrating marriage when she learns that Matt is leaving for Zimbabwe to rescue a badly injured elephant. Foolishly optimistic, she joins the expedition.On a dangerous, revealing, exhilarating trip through Africa, Neelie comes to learn a lot about herself as a woman and a wife. But it isn't until they return home with their pachyderm patient that her eyes are truly opened to what is going on around her. And with the help of a very large and very special animal, she may even discover how to love again.

A collection of twenty-three indelible stories—all never before published—from today's top female crime writers and some talented newcomers, selected by the New York Times bestselling author Anger . . . Jealousy . . . Gluttony . . . Sloth . . . Lust . . . Greed . . . Pride. The seven deadly sins have been the roots of crime throughout human history. In Two of the Deadliest, Elizabeth George has gathered nearly two dozen tales that probe the dark heart of crime in the name of a pair of particularly wicked transgressions: lust and greed. A young woman mistaken for someone else falls neatly into what appears to be the perfect business opportunity, only to learn that such luxury comes with a price. A mother is driven to depths she never imagined by her less-than-grateful son. And two lovers intent on profiting from an unexpected inheritance discover that the most valuable item is not at all what they thought it was. In addition to stars including Laura Lippman, Susan Wiggs, Marcia Muller, Carolyn Hart, Nancy Pickard, and Elizabeth George herself, the collection also features new writers from a broad range of backgrounds—journalists, educators, and criminal experts. Together they explore the dark depths women and men will sink to for passion, wealth, and power. Thrilling and unpredictable, these stories of murder and mayhem are guaranteed to shock and entertain.

In one West Philadelphia neighborhood, families come together in celebration of unity and togetherness. Their block parties provide a union that serves as a backdrop for discovering the truth about themselves and the people they think they know.Best friends Neet and Shay have depended on each other for most of their lives. However, their friendship will be tested when Neet becomes pregnant by one of the corner boys and Shay arranges an abortion that goes terribly wrong.To Shay's horror, Neet is left unable to bear children and embraces her mother's esoteric yet sometimes impractical religious beliefs as punishment for her sins.Meanwhile, Shay is left to struggle with her own growing maturity, the grief of losing a cherished friendship, and the disintegration of her parents' marriage. The two girls eventually choose their own separate paths.Leaving Cecil Street invokes those things that are most important -- family, friendship, and love.

Barber Guillaume Ladoucette has always enjoyed great success in his tiny village in southwestern France, catering to the tonsorial needs of Amour-sur-Belle's thirty-three inhabitants. But times have changed. His customers have grown older—and balder. Suddenly there is no longer a call for Guillaume's particular services, and he is forced to make a drastic career change. Since love and companionship are necessary commodities at any age, he becomes Amour-sur-Belle's official matchmaker and intends to unite hearts as ably as he once cut hair. But alas, Guillaume is not nearly as accomplished an agent of amour, as the disastrous results of his initial attempts amply prove, especially when it comes to arranging his own romantic future.For every reader who adored Chocolat, Julia Stuart's The Matchmaker of Périgord is a delectable, utterly enchanting, and sinfully satisfying delight.

Cornelia Brown surprised herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to move to the suburbs with her husband. Her mettle is quickly tested by her impeccably dressed, overly judgmental neighbor Piper Truitt—the embodiment of everything Cornelia feared she'd find in suburbia. With Lake, another recent arrival, Cornelia shares a love of literature and old movies—as she forms an instant bond with this warm yet elusive woman and her perceptive, brilliant young son Dev. Acclaimed bestselling author Marisa de los Santos's literary talents shine in the complex interactions she creates between three unforgettable women, deftly entangling her characters in a web of trust, betrayal, love, and loss that challenges them in ways they never imagined.

New York Times bestselling author Cecelia Ahern's charming new novel explores what happens when "what if" becomes a reality for two strangers whose lives are at a crossroads.How can you know someone you've never metThat's the question haunting Joyce Conway these days. Recovering from a terrible accident and with her marriage in pieces, Joyce is suddenly plagued by an overwhelming sense of déjà vu that makes her feel as if the life she's living is not her own. During the day she has vivid memories of things she's never seen—such as cobblestoned Parisian streets she's never visited—and at night she dreams of a little girl she's sure she's never met. Joyce is convinced she's lost her mind . . . until a series of coincidences leads her on a journey to meet the one person who may hold the answer she needs.Someone's life could be depending on you right now. . . . That's the pitch that finally persuades Justin Hitchcock to donate blood—the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time.Restless and lonely, Justin chased his ex-wife and daughter from Chicago to London, and now he's in Dublin, guest-lecturing to bored college students. When he receives a basket of muffins with a thank-you note attached, he's sure someone's playing a joke on him, but then the presents keep coming. Intrigued, Justin is determined to solve the mystery—a quest that will change his life forever.Thanks for the Memories is a heartwarming story of hope, love, and second chances—Cecelia Ahern's most magical novel yet.

Sweeping across centuries and into the Aleutian Islands of Alaska's Bering Sea, And She Was begins with a decision and a broken taboo when three starving Aleut mothers decide to take their fate into their own hands. Two hundred and fifty years later, by the time Brandy, a floundering, trashy, Latin-spewing cocktail waitress, steps ashore in the 1980s, Unalaska Island has absorbed their dark secret—a secret that is both salvation and shame. In a tense interplay between past and present, And She Was explores Aleut history, mummies, conquest, survival, and the seamy side of the 1980s in a fishing boomtown at the edge of the world, where a lost woman struggles to understand the gray shades between heroism and evil, and between freedom and bondage.

An absorbing and compelling work of literary historical fiction, set in colonial Philadelphia, that brings to life a little-known chapter of the American Revolution—the story of Benjamin Franklin and his bastard son, and the women who loved themSixteen-year-old Anne is an uneducated serving girl at the Penny Pot tavern when she first meets the commanding Benjamin Franklin. The time she spends with the brilliant young printer teases her curious mind, and the money he provides keeps her family from starving. But the ambitious Franklin is committed to someone else, a proper but infatuated woman named Deborah Read who becomes his common-law wife. At least Anne has William, her cherished infant son, to remind her of his father and to soften some of life's bleakness.But growing up a bastard amid the squalor of Eades Alley isn't the life Anne wants for her only son. Acutely aware of the challenges facing them, she makes a heartbreaking sacrifice. She will give up William forever, allowing Benjamin and Deborah Franklin to raise him as their own.Though she cannot be with him, Anne secretly watches out for her beloved child, daring to be close to him without revealing the truth about herself or his birth, and standing guard as Deborah Franklin struggles to accept her husband's bastard son as her own.As the years pass, the bustling colonies grow and prosper, offering opportunities for wealth and power for a talented man like William's father. Benjamin's growing fame and connections as a scientist, writer, philosopher, businessman, and political genius open doors for the astute William as well, and eventually King George III appoints Benjamin's bastard son to the new position of Royal Governor of New Jersey. Anne's fortunes also rise. A shrewd woman of many talents, she builds a comfortable life of her own—yet nothing fills her with more joy or pride than her son's success and happiness.But all that her accomplished son has achieved is threatened when the colonies—led by influential men, including his own father—begin the fight for independence. A steadfast, loyal subject of the British Crown, William cannot accept his father's passionate defense of the patriots' cause, and the enduring bond they share fractures, a heart-wrenching break that will forever haunt them and those they love.A poignant tale of passion, family, love, and war, Benjamin Franklin's Bastard skillfully brings into focus a cast of remarkable characters drawn from real life, and vividly re-creates one of the most remarkable and thrilling periods of history—the birth of the American nation.

Based on her lauded commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College, this stirring essay by bestselling author Ann Patchett offers hope and inspiration for anyone at a crossroads, whether graduating, changing careers, or transitioning from one life stage to another. With wit and candor, Patchett tells her own story of attending college, graduating, and struggling with the inevitable question, What now?From student to line cook to teacher to waitress and eventually to award-winning author, Patchett's own life has taken many twists and turns that make her exploration genuine and resonant. As Patchett writes, "'What now?' represents our excitement and our future, the very vitality of life." She highlights the possibilities the unknown offers and reminds us that there is as much joy in the journey as there is in reaching the destination.

Before the sweet delight of Chocolat, before the heady concoction that is Blackberry Wine, and before the tart pleasures of Five Quarters of the Orange, bestselling author Joanne Harris wrote Sleep, Pale Sister -- a gothic tourde-force that recalls the powerfully dark sensibility of her novel Holy Fools.Originally published in 1994 -- and never before available in the United States -- Sleep, Pale Sister is a hypnotically atmospheric story set in nineteenth century London. When puritanical artist Henry Chester sees delicate child beauty Effie, he makes her his favorite model and, before long, his bride. But Henry, volatile and repressed, is in love with an ideal. Passive, docile, and asexual, the woman he projects onto Effie is far from the woman she really is. And when Effie begins to discover the murderous depths of Henry's hypocrisy, her latent passion will rise to the surface.Sleep, Pale Sister combines the ethereal beauty of a Pre-Raphaelite painting with a chilling high gothic tale and is a testament to Harris's brimming cornucopia of talents.This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first mannedmission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history asone of humanity's great explorers.But in space, nothing goes according to plan.The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedlyfail-proof safety pod. They mourn, and Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogyback to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter whathappens, the mission must continue.But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone and spiralingtoward his own inevitable death . . . unless he can do something to stop it.

Drawing on such unique sources as Thornton Wilder's unpublished letters, journals, and selections from the extensive annotations Wilder made years later in the margins of the book, Tappan Wilder's Afterword adds a special dimension to the reissue of this internationally acclaimed novel.The Ides of March, first published in 1948, is a brilliant epistolary novel set in Julius Caesar's Rome. Thornton Wilder called it "a fantasia on certain events and persons of the last days of the Roman republic." Through vividly imagined letters and documents, Wilder brings to life a dramatic period of world history and one of history's most magnetic, elusive personalities.In this inventive narrative, the Caesar of history becomes Caesar the human being. Wilder also resurrects the controversial figures surrounding Caesar -- Cleopatra, Catullus, Cicero, and others. All Rome comes crowding through these pages -- the Rome of villas and slums, beautiful women and brawling youths, spies and assassins.

The past just arrived on Ruby's doorstep . . .To uncover the truth about a friend's disappearance, a fragile young woman must silence the ghosts of her past in this moving debut tale that intertwines mystery, madness, betrayal, love, and literature."My past was never more than one thought, one breath, one heartbeat away. And then, on that particular October evening, it literally arrived at my doorstep."Twenty-two-year-old Ruby Rousseau is haunted by memories of Tarble, the women's college she fled from ten months earlier, and the painful love affair that pushed her to the brink of tragedy.When a suitcase belonging to a former classmate named Beth arrives on her doorstep, Ruby is plunged into a dark mystery. Beth has gone missing, and the suitcase is the only tangible evidence of her whereabouts.Inside the bag, Ruby discovers a tattered copy of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, the book she believes was a harbinger of her madness. Is someone trying to send her a message—and what does it mean?The search for answers leads to Tarble. As Ruby digs into Beth's past, she has no choice but to confront her own—an odyssey that will force her to reexamine her final days at school, including the married professor who broke her heart and the ghosts of illustrious writers, dead by their own hand, who beckoned her to join their tragic circle.But will finding the truth finally set Ruby free . . . or send her over the edge of sanity?

Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement and looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order). When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being postgrad roomies with best friend, Shari, in a one-room walk-up in exchange for cohabitation with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-à-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir. But Lizzie's not as lucky in her employment search. As Shari finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, being judged overqualified for the jobs in her chosen field—vintage-gown rehab—and underqualified for everything else. It's Shari's boyfriend Chaz to the rescue when he recommends Lizzie for a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm. The nonpaying gig at a local wedding-gown shop Lizzie manages to land all on her own. But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her into trouble at work and at home almost at once—first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with Jill Higgins, a New York society bride with a troublesome future mother-in-law, and then back on Fifth Avenue, when she makes the mistake of bringing up the M word (Marriage) with commitment-shy Luke. Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself—and the hapless Jill—and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?

There are a few places screenwriter Lou Calabrese would rather be than crammed into a helicopter with Jack Townsend, star of her claim to fame, Copkiller, and whose ex just ran off with Lou's ex. Talk about uncomfortable. But when, halfway out to the isolated arctic location where Copkiller IV is currently shooting, their pilot turns murderous and their helicopter crashes, Lou realizes her day has just gotten a lot worse.Now, while family and friends back home fret over her disappearance, Lou is on the run in the arctic wilderness with America's sweetheart Jack Townsend and only the contents of her purse, his pockets, and their mutual knowledge of survival movie trivia to keep them alive. Can these two children of Hollywood put aside their differences and make it back home without killing each otherOr much, much worse, actually start to like one another?

A Year of Laughter and Grace in harmonyMaster storyteller Philip Gulley returns to the winsome ways of Harmony, Indiana, in the third installment of the beloved Harmony series.

Heather Wells Rocks!Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two -- and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen -- not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives -- even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

Former pop star Heather Wells has settled nicely into her new life as assistant dorm director at New York College—a career that does not require her to drape her size 12 body in embarrassingly skimpy outfits. She can even cope (sort of) with her rocker ex-boyfriend's upcoming nuptials, which the press has dubbed The Celebrity Wedding of the Decade. But she's definitely having a hard time dealing with the situation in the dormitory kitchen—where a cheerleader has lost her head on the first day of the semester. (Actually, her head is accounted for—it's her torso that's AWOL.)Surrounded by hysterical students—with her ex-con father on her doorstep and her ex-love bombarding her with unwanted phone calls—Heather welcomes the opportunity to play detective . . . again. If it gets her mind off her personal problems—and teams her up again with the gorgeous P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—it's all good. But the murder trail is leading the average-sized amateur investigator into a shadowy world. And if she doesn't watch her step, Heather will soon be singing her swan song!

From Paulette Jiles, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Enemy Women, comes a poignant and unforgettable story of hardship, sacrifice, and strength in a tragic time—and of a desperate dream born of an undying faith in the arrival of a better dayOil is king of East Texas during the darkest years of the Great Depression. The Stoddard girls—responsible Mayme, whip-smart tomboy Jeanine, and bookish Bea—know no life but an itinerant one, trailing their father from town to town as he searches for work on the pipelines and derricks; that is, when he's not spending his meager earnings at gambling joints, race tracks, and dance halls. And in every small town in which the windblown family settles, mother Elizabeth does her level best to make each sparse, temporary house they inhabit a home.But the fall of 1937 ushers in a year of devastating drought and dust storms, and the family's fortunes sink further than they ever anticipated when a questionable "accident" leaves Elizabeth and her girls alone to confront the cruelest hardships of these hardest of times. With no choice left to them, they return to the abandoned family farm.It is Jeanine, proud and stubborn, who single-mindedly devotes herself to rebuilding the farm and their lives. But hard work and good intentions won't make ends meet or pay the back taxes they owe on their land. In desperation, the Stoddard women place their last hopes for salvation in a wildcat oil well that eats up what little they have left . . . and on the back of late patriarch Jack's one true legacy, a dangerous racehorse named Smoky Joe. And Jeanine, the fatherless "daddy's girl," must decide if she will gamble it all . . . on love.

Here are brief, pointed, practical instructions in successful living to help achieve real health, happiness, prosperity, greater security, andpeace of mind. In clear, concise terms, Emmet Fox outlines the sevenmental laws that are the stepping stones to full realization of the inner, spiritual Power which ties within the reach of anyone who sincerely wants it and who is willing to apply the principles set forth. Make Your Life Worthwhile reveals how you can put these principles to immediate use to begin transforming your life.Dr. Fox explains the eleven key words in the Bible and discusses what the Bible has to say about successful living, showing how its wisdom can become a part of your everyday life.This is a lifetime plan for tapping into the great spiritual truths that underlie, everyday existence and applying them to: Reach through to true spiritual Power Use your own inner resources more fully Overcome difficulties Become a dynamic person Achieve what you really desire Pray unselfishly. Get results with positive thinking Make the most of the present moment Enhance spiritual growth and material well-being Build confidence in yourself Understand your unique role in God's unfolding purpose and much more.

Finally the ultimate diet for fast, safe weight loss, lifelong health, and longer life, based on more than twenty years of research and the latest findings on appetite and weight. Metabolic specialist Ron Rosedale, M.D., has designed the Rosedale Diet to regulate the powerful hormone leptin, which controls appetite and weight loss by telling the brain when to eat, how much to eat and when to stop. New research shows that leptin may be one of the body's most important hunger control mechanisms. Control leptin, and you control your weight.Most people's leptin levels are out of control, causing them to overeat and to store fat rather than burn it. The only way to flip the "hunger switch" back to normal is through a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates, saturated fat, and trans-fatty acids often found in processed food plus just 15 minutes of daily exercise.Dr. Rosedale's 21-day diet plan is simple: Just select from the many foods on his "A" list, including "healthy-fat" foods such as avocados, nuts, olives, lobster, crab, shrimp, goat cheese, Cornish game hen, venison, and more. Then gradually add foods from the "B" list, such as steak, lamb chops, fruits, beans, and so on. A 28-day menu plan and more than 100 recipes, such as Dilled Salmon and Fresh Asparagus, Gingery Chicken Soup, Lasagna, Black Bean Wrap, Raspberry Mousse Cake, and French Silk Pie, make eating the Rosedale way deliciously easy.Weight loss is just the beginning. The Rosedale Diet will make you feel satisfied, reduce cravings, and put you in control of your "sweet tooth." It can even help eliminate or reduce heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and other conditions associated with "natural" aging, as many of Dr. Rosedale's patients can attest. You'll find inspiring stories from them and the power to control your weight and improve your health in this groundbreaking book.