Beautiful, young, impoverished Parson’s daughter, Hermia Brooke, is happy with her simple country life, despite being shunned by her wealthy uncle the Earl of Millbrooke and her cousin, the spoilt and selfish Marilyn. In a chance encounter with a raffishly handsome gentleman, whom she decides resembles the Devil himself, she nevertheless helps him with a stone stuck in his horse’s hoof. Rewarded with a golden guinea and a shocking kiss, Hermia finds her world turned topsy turvy when she meets the mysterious stranger once more at the behest of Marilyn, who is determined to trap this ‘Devil’ – namely the Marquis of Deverille – into marriage. Just as Hermia’s innocent heart warms to the gentler side of this hard-bitten aristocrat and he falls under her guileless spell, the Marquis is embroiled in a murderous plot and Hermia must fight for his life, even as all hope of the love she dreams about for herself seems lost.

Although her father is the acclaimed Music Hall performer, Keegan Kenway, his young daughter, Isla, who is ethereally beautiful, is never allowed even to go near the Music Halls, which were not deemed suitable places for a lady to be seen at. Now that her mother is dead, her father is close to bankruptcy and so desperate for the proceeds of a benefit show that, when his co-star is taken ill, he is reluctantly forced to allow Isla to take her place for the evening and he sings his famous sons Champagne Charlie and It was only a dream. After a supremely successful performance when Isla and he are acclaimed by an enthusiastic audience, Keegan Kenway disappears to a late night party and Isla, declining the invitation, goes home alone, where the party’s host, Lord Polegate, arrives to inform her that her father has collapsed and is still unconscious. In her dismay and anxiety, Isla agrees to accompany the persistent Lord Polegate to his country house, where she gradually realises that his intentions are very much less than honourable and she flees his house in terror. Lost and alone, she flags down a passing carriage on the main road and, to her immense relief, she is saved by the handsome and kind Marquis of Longridge, whose superb house is nearby. And already Isla is falling in love – But is it real or is it only a dream?

Fans of Mary Higgins Clark, Lisa Jackson, and Allison Brennan will love this thrilling novel of suspense by Wendy Corsi Staub!Sometimes secrets can kill . . . I know who you are. When Elizabeth Baxter reads these words, her world crashes. Five years ago, she was Hollywood superstar Mallory Eden—until a mysterious stalker turned her life into a nightmare. Now she hides in the small town of Windmere Cove, Rhode Island, living in fear, constantly looking over her shoulder . . . Then her house is ransacked. The phone rings, and no one is on the other end … And very soon Elizabeth realizes she's being hunted again. Her only peace is the solace she's found in the arms of Harper Smith. She longs to tell him the truth—and then she learns of his own secret past … a past that connects to Mallory Eden's.

Ray Bradbury is, indisputably, one of America's greatest storytellers. The recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, he ranks among the most beloved -- and widely read -- of American authors. In The Cat's Pajamas, this "latter-day O. Henry" (Booklist) takes us on an amazing walk through his six-decade career, presenting twenty-two tales -- some old, some new, all but two never before published.Here you will find stories strange and scary, nostalgic and bittersweet, humorous and heart-touching, ranging from the not-so-long-gone past to an unknowable future: a group of senators drinks a bit too much -- and gambles away the United States; a newlywed couple buys an old house and finds their fledgling relationship tested; two mysterious strangers arrive at a rooming house and baffle their fellow occupants with strange crying in the night; a lonely woman takes a last chance on love. The final piece in the collection is a story-poem, a fond salute from Bradbury to his literary heroes Shaw, Chesterton, Dickens, Twain, Poe, Wilde, Melville, and Kipling.The Cat's Pajamas is just that -- the bee's knees -- a touching, timeless, and tender collection from the incomparable Ray Bradbury, and a anoramic view of an amazingly long, rich, and fertile creative career.

Dustin Brown, all-star captain of the 2012 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings, tells his story of how he went from being a youth hockey player in Ithaca, New York, to becoming one of the NHL's biggest stars.This short story from the collection Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a winner.

Mr. Chesney operates Pilgrim Parties, a tour group that takes paying participants into an outer realm where the inhabitants play frightening and foreboding roles. The time has come to end the staged madness . . . but can it really be stoppedMaster storyteller Diana Wynne Jones serves up twists and turns, introduces Querida, Derk, Blade, and Shona and a remarkable cast of wizards, soldiers, kings, dragons, and griffins, and mixes in a lively dash of humor. With all the ingredients of high fantasy, this unforgettable novel will delight fans old and new.

Believing is seeing, as the title of this outstanding collection of fantasies proclaims. And "reading is seeing more than you've ever imagined when in the masterful hands of acclaimed author Diana Wynne Jones. Here are seven tales—seven doorways to bizarre, yet strangely familiar worlds—to transport one and all. In these worlds are a child born to an ordered society but preordained to spread Dissolution . . . a girl who so loves the sun that she renounces her humanity for eternity . . . a cat and a boy, held captive by an evil magician until they can find a bigger magic of their own . . . a woman imprisoned in a strange country dominated by three ravenous wolves . . . and many other characters and stories just as exceptional. These richly drawn, razor-sharp stories showcase the skills and sheer narrative power of one of the most esteemed fantasy writers of our time.

They're in the revenge business!Jess and Frank's father has stopped their allowances for four whole months! That means that Jess can't go anywhere or do anything with her friends. Worse yet, Frank owes money to Buster Knell, the bully. How can Jess and Frank earn some cash—fast?By starting a business, Own Back, Ltd. It specializes in revenge, which every kid needs to seek at some time, they figure. Most don't have the courage themselves. But Jess and Frank do—for a price!Lots of clients show up. But Jess and Frank soon discover that the revenge business can be pretty complicated, especially when it turns out that there's another one in town—owned by Biddy Iremonger, the fiercely competitive local witch!

Master storyteller Diana Wynne Jones presents ariveting collection of unpredictable tales, including:A cat tells how the kindhearted wizard she owns is suddenly called upon to defeat a horrific Beast.When Anne has mumps, her drawings come to life, and she must protect her home from them.Four children become involved in the intrigue surrounding an innocent prince, an evil count, and a brave outlaw.These fifteen stories and one novella will enchant, startle, and surprise!

When the Merlin of Blest dies, everyone thinks it's a natural death. But Roddy and Grundo, two children traveling with the Royal Court, soon discover the truth. The Merlin's replacement and other courtiers are scheming to steal the magic of Blest for their own purposes. Roddy enlists the help of Nick, a boy from another world, and the three turn to their own impressive powers. The dangers are great, and if Roddy, Grundo, and Nick cannot stop the conspirators, the results will be more dreadful than they could possibly imagine.

The Food Network star is back with an all-new, all-American book in his #1 New York Times bestselling seriesIn its seventeenth season, Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives continues its reign as America's best source for finding the funky, scratch-made, and delicious. Now the host and #1 New York Times bestselling author returns with more of his favorite joints across the country—and a few in Canada! In this third entry in his Diners, Drive-ins and Dives series, Guy keeps his motto front and center—"If it's funky, I'll find it." This time around he's bringing on the big personalities, the rockin' real-deal recipes, and the homegrown restaurants that capture the freewheeling American spirit at its finest. Also along for the ride are members of Guy's rambunctious Krew, sharing their most memorable shoots, meals, behind-the-scenes stories, and killer pranks from the road. And check out this new feature—a tricked-out, full-color foldout map that shows the location of every diner in the book!

Russia, 1986. On a run-down apartment block in Moscow, a nine-year-old prodigy plays his piano silently for fear of disturbing the neighbors. In a factory on the outskirts of the city, his aunt makes car parts, hiding her dissident past. In a nearby hospital, a surgeon immerses himself in his work, avoiding his failed marriage.And in a village in Belarus, a teenage boy wakes to a sky of the deepest crimson. Outside, the ears of his neighbor's cattle are dripping blood. Ten miles away, at the Chernobyl Power Plant, something unimaginable has happened.Now their lives will change forever. An end-of-empire novel charting the collapse of the Soviet Union, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a gripping and epic love story by a major new talent.

Jane Austen comes to modern-day Los Angeles in Claire LaZebnik's imaginative take on Persuasion, where seventeen-year-old Anna Eliot finds out whether there's such a thing as a second chance when it comes to first love. Fans of Polly Shulman, Maureen Johnson, Elizabeth Eulberg, Stephanie Perkins, and, of course, Jane Austen will love this irresistibly funny and romantic contemporary tale.Anna is tired of worrying about what other people think. After all, that was how she lost the only guy she ever really liked, Finn Westbrook. Now, three years after she broke his heart, the one who got away is back in her life—and he wants nothing to do with her.Anna keeps trying to persuade herself that she doesn't care about Finn either, but even though they've both changed since they first met, deep down she knows he's the guy for her. Now if only she can get him to believe that, too . . .

When Isabel Allende's daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes; we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, and the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers. With Paula, Allende has written a powerful autobiography whose straightforward acceptance of the magical and spiritual worlds will remind readers of her first book, The House of the Spirits.

An orphan raised in Valparaiso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigid brother, vivacious young Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Entering a rough-and-tumble world of new arrivals driven mad by gold fever, Eliza moves in a society of single men and prostitutes with the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chien. California opens the door to a new life of freedom and independence to the young Chilean, and her search for her elusive lover gradually turns into another kind of journey. By the time she finally hears news of him, Eliza must decide who her true love really is.

Once again Alexander Cold and his indomitable journalist grandmother, Kate, are braving the mystical unknown, this time in the heart of Africa. Along with Alex's friend Nadia Santos and a photographic crew from International Geographic magazine, they have travelled to Kenya to work on an article about the continent's first elephant-led safaris. But when a missionary approaches their camp in search of companions who have mysteriously disappeared, Alex, Nadia, and their group find themselves embarking on a dangerous mission to Africa's equatorial forest to aid a clan of Pygmies. For the Cold expedition is the tribe's last hope for survival in a world where poaching, corruption, and slavery run rampant.Forest of the Pygmies is the concluding volume of acclaimed author Isabel Allende's celebrated trilogy, which begins with City of the Beasts and continues with Kingdom of the Golden Dragon.

The Marquis of Elvington, heartbroken to discover the woman he intended to marry has deceived him, decides to leave England and put as many miles as possible between them. Handsome, intelligent and a great favourite at the Court of King William IV and Queen Adelaide, the Marquis is used to the admiration of women and respect of men, so the duplicity of his intended wife strikes him a cruel blow. However, a thick fog makes it impossible for his yacht to leave Dover Harbour, so he is forced to remain on British soil another night. Anger swiftly chasing his sadness, he decides to visit a cheap quayside inn to escape the loneliness he feels and drown his sorrows. Sitting alone, his mind firmly fixed on how the woman he loved has betrayed him, he vows never to love or trust again. But Fate seems determined to challenge him as almost immediately he is forced to act as a ‘Good Samaritan’ to protect a young lady, Ola, intent on escaping the clutches of her hateful stepmother and dishonourable cousin. Blaming his act of charity on the vast quantities of brandy he consumed and against his better judgement, he offers to sail her in his yacht, The Sea Wolf, to Calais. Ola is brave, opinionated and daring – as well as possessing the most flaming red hair he has ever seen. From the moment she steps aboard, decrying men and their dastardly intentions, the Marquis is hard put to keep in step with her wild ideas and brave deeds. In turn admiring her free spirit and amazed at her lack of understanding of the ways of the world, they form a strange truce based on the fact that both vow never to marry. But Fate has not finished meddling yet and they are soon embroiled in incredible adventures, too fantastic for either of them ever to have imagined, that push their friendship to its very limits.

The handsome and aristocratic, thirty-five year old diplomat Lord Athelstan knows that he is heading for trouble on his mission to the Caucasus to investigate how long the legendary Shamyl, the Imam of Daghestan, can hold out against the invading Russians. But little does he expect to be faced with another kind of conflict – with a beautiful young hostage imprisoned in the Imam’s stronghold. The lovely Natasha is only nineteen and she was seized along with a Royal party by the Imam’s followers and held to ransom against the release of the Imam’s only son by the Russians. Orphaned, she has no hope of raising a ransom and instead has reluctantly agreed to be given to the Sultan of Turkey as a ‘wife’ for his vast harem in return for the release of her nine-year-old brother. The Imam implores Lord Athelstan to escort Natasha safely to Constantinople – a favour he cannot grant lest it anger the Russians and compromise Great Britain. But then he meets her – undoubtedly the most glorious woman he has ever seen, with fire in her eyes, when he informs her that he cannot agree to Shamyl’s request. Ultimately Natasha gives him no choice and, when she appears among his party in disguise, Lord Athelstan is furious. Soon their mutual hatred turns to all-consuming love – a love surely doomed by Natasha’s pledge to sacrifice herself to the Sultan’s harem for the sake of her brother –

‘The Gustav Holst Way’ is the first guidebook to describe the 35-mile rambling route across the Cotswolds to celebrate the life and work of the composer Gustav Holst. Published exactly 100 years after Holst began work on The Planets, the route visits many of the places that were important to the young Holst as his musical career took wing. Among the highlights are the house in Cheltenham where he was born (now the Holst Birthplace Museum) and several venues in the Cotswolds where he played, conducted and taught music. The richly illustrated guidebook divides the walk into five easy/moderate sections (with four optional detours) and includes detailed maps, points of historical interest and all the practical information you need to follow in Gustav Holst’s footsteps from Cranham to Wyck Rissington. The Holst Birthplace Museum Gustav Holst, one of England’s greatest composers, was born in a Regency terraced house in Cheltenham in 1874. The house has been carefully restored and converted into a ‘living museum’ that captures the atmosphere of the era, both above and below stairs. The most eye-catching of the museum’s collection of 3,000 items is the piano on which Holst composed The Planets, as popular as ever nearly 100 years after it was published. Step inside the Museum and see the piano Holst used to compose The Planets. Find out how he developed into a world-class composer by examining and listening to original manu*s written when he was a schoolboy in Cheltenham. "

Even if there is a realm beyond mortality, would finding it improve our lives on earthWhat use is Spirit to a troubled worldDo prayer and meditation workAs a young man in search of love and a purpose to live for, the author could not fit within the world he found. Longing to be useful but unwilling to conform, he went out to South America. It wasn’t so easy. Alone on a mountainside one day, an inner voice said, ‘To make whole, be whole’. This was a turning point. He realised that, before being able to help others, he first had to work on himself. Once back in England, he found a method of meditation. Love of nature led him to become one of the first organic farmers but, when asked what he really wanted in life, he answered ‘God’. He’d been schooled in the Christian faith but was not at this time attracted to the Church. Meditation proved an ideal accompaniment as further adventures took him to Africa and, in particular, the desert. Later, at a low ebb in the USA, he ‘met Jesus’, which brought his practice of meditation and Christianity together. At the age of 51, he re-entered university to study Russian prior to visiting his mother’s homeland for the first time in 1991. This led to several years living in Russia, where he realised the similarity between his own practice and traditional Orthodox ‘prayer of the heart’. The book is based on notes of the author’s unfolding spiritual experience, which taught him that the wholeness he sought is actually – Spirit. How is it attainedWith many encouraging examples he shows how, with patient perseverance, the grip of the ego with all the restrictive unhappiness it brings, can be released. Being then more open to the influence of Grace, we may come to discover the Kingdom of God – our original, spiritual and perfect home. Dear John, ‘I hope you won’t mind my addressing you by your Christian name but having read your book twice as well as highlighting many paragraphs to study, I feel you are a dear friend. I am writing to say that your profound insights are enormously encouraging, an awakening, a wonderful inspiration for me, and I feel so fortunate to have found them. Your experiences in Spirit are conveyed so clearly and simply ‘ I find them truly uplifting. Every day I read some pages and always seem to find something new. I feel extremely grateful that you chose to write of your experience ‘ your legacy is to inspire countless other people, and to enrich their lives as you have mine.’ ML, 2011 Dear Mr Butler, ‘I am over half-way through your book ‘Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment’ and feel I would like to express my gratitude to you for helping me gain clarity in the process of awakening. It is difficult to express in words the way your writings from personal experience have helped crystallise my sense of ‘Being’ in Reality. Your notes on waking from the dream or illusion we mistake for life and the sense of non-attachment to the world this engenders ‘ greatly assist me in releasing my conditioned perception. It is wonderful to find that someone living so near me, geographically, can write with such clarity and, knowing that you are here in the flesh confirming the truth of the possibility of waking up, has been a great affirmation to me and is supporting me in my own journey of awaking or coming home. Thank you so much.’ L, 2011 ‘This is a moving, honest ‘ and long ‘ spiritual autobiography, interestingly given in two voices: contemporary notebooks interlaced with present day ruminations. Butler met the meditation early and it colours his early days of self-sustaining farming after Cambridge, and his many adventures described in detail and with compassion in South America, Africa (sharing keenness of hunger and the haunting splendour of the night skies) and India, culminating in coming ‘home’ to his core way in the Russia of his mother and its Christian orthodoxy. It was love that led him through the labyrinth of his life ‘ a path we all recognise. As he says, ‘to surrender myself and let the spirit act.’ Throughout it is his honesty which makes the book valid for us. His spiritual insights have all been gained through the experience of this varied life which he seems to have accepted with the innocence and enthusiasm of a child. His way is our way. It is a book of vivid de*ion and some very helpful insights.’ Contact 55 – Summer 2011

Handsome, noble Lord Alistair McDonon’s gay life, as a denizen of London’s Beau Monde far, far away from his Scottish roots, comes to a sudden and abrupt end. When the tragic news arrives that his two brothers have drowned at sea, he is summoned to Scotland by his estranged father not only to take up his title of the Marquis of Kildonon and position of heir to the Chieftainship of the Clan but also to marry, Lady Morag McNain, in order to unite their Clans, who have been at war with each other for centuries. Horrified, Lord Alistair hastily proposes to his current lover, Olive Beverley – only to be refused and it seems that he is doomed to a loveless marriage in the windswept and distant Highlands. Suddenly, though, everything changes when he overhears a delicately beautiful young woman, called Arina, desperately begging the heartless Olive for enough money to pay for her beloved mother’s life-saving operation. Alistair steps in to help Arina, asking in return only that she accompany him to Kildonon Castle pretending to be his wife. So now no one can force him to marry Lady Morag – but little does Lord Alistair know that his demure ‘young pretender’ will soon be laying an irrevocable claim to his heart!