A PROMISE TO PROTECT As a skilled SWAT team negotiator, Isaac Morrison has defused many a crisis situation. But safeguarding Leah Nichols and her young son may be his most challenging mission yet. Leah’s brother—his best friend Shane—has gone missing while working undercover. Now it’s up to Isaac to protect mother and child from Shane’s enemies. He doesn’t know whom they can trust, but he’s determined to catch the gunmen threatening their lives. Isaac knows he needs his best protection skills against their formidable adversary. Because he can’t risk the consequences to the little family who has stealthily claimed his heart. SWAT: Top Cops: Love in the line of duty

Joe Grey can't believe his human housemate Clyde would even consider volunteering him for the Animal Therapy program at the local nursing home, just when Joe was on the verge of solving the string of burglaries that has Molena Point residents shaking in their collective boots. But it turns out it's Dulcie, Joe's pretty little cat-friend, who came up with the idea of subjecting Joe to the cooing attentions of a bunch of doddering old coots. Dulcie believes there's more going on at the old folks' home than the care and feeding of lonely seniors. And she needs Joe's help in getting to the bottom of a conspiracy ... and a very suspicious set of deaths.

Multiple-award-winning author Shirley Rousseau Murphy once again brings us Joe Grey and Dulcie, the most cunning set of feline sleuths ever to stick their paws into crime solving. Always a loner, Charlie Getz never expected to fall in love with anyone, let alone the chief of police of Molena Point, California. So her wedding on a perfect, sunny day is all the more joyous -- especially when two of the honored guests are four-footed pals, feline detectives Joe Grey and Dulcie. However, two unexpected visitors -- a young boy and an old man hidden in the shadows -- are preparing to bomb the soon-to-be-filled lied church. The lone witness, a small tattercoat kit crouched beneath the oak branches, warns Joe's owner, Clyde; then, with claws and teeth, she stops the two would-be murderers. But the shock of the near disaster that might have killed half the village is only the beginning. The next morning Charlie's good friend, building contractor Ryan Flannery, awakens to find her estranged, philandering husband dead in her garage ... and her own gun is missing. With suspicion falling squarely on Ryan's shoulders, Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit use their skills of break-and-enter to prove her innocence. But a stranger's sinister push into her life is as unexpected as the arrival, on the morning of the murder, of a handsome purebred hunting dog, a homeless stray who seems determined to move in with Ryan. Whatever hateful force has descended on the small seaside village, the three cats are soon paw-deep in a tangle of jealousy, greed, and carefully planned retribution. So they work the case as only cats can, passing information anonymously to the cops, making a heroic feline effort to nail the killer and catch the wedding bomber, and hoping to see the silver hunting dog settled safely into his new home.

When the local village yard sales invite theft and murder, feline sleuths Joe Grey and Dulcie are into the case with their claws sharp. And when the two sleek detectives investigate the prime suspect's house, where the police have no cause to enter, and pass the information across the continent to the New York PD --Joe Grey's tomcat instincts nail the killer before the cops have a clue. Cat Laughing Last Violence and theft at a yard saleMurder because of an eBay auctionThe body on Susan Brittain's breakfast room floor and all her treasured purchases flung about and broken are not a good start to Susan's day. However, the criminal involvement is wider than she imagines, and may disrupt the lives of many others as well.Joe Grey and Dulcie suspect as much. With their unique ability to break and enter where the cops can't, the two cats begin gathering evidence. Meanwhile the cats' human friends deal with a famous author and his ill-tempered wife as they try to produce his play without coming to blows. And several senior ladies seek an innovative solution to retirement security, using their revenue from eBay and yard sales. But as Joe Grey and Oulcie dig into California history, they discover that certain artifacts, appearing at those same sales, hold the key to the puzzle. The crudely carved antique casks -- the legacy of a Spanish bride two hundred years dead-are the link the cats have been searching for. Yet it is the young tortoiseshell, Kit, fascinated by the delights of theater production, who nearly gives away the cats' greatest secret. Kit, with her own surprising venture, almost alerts the entire village that these cats can speak and are more perceptive and sharper of wit than most humans could ever imagine.

A striking new reissue of an epic fantasy by popular Harper author Shirley Rousseau Murphy, featuring a princess's dangerous quest to reclaim her throne...and, of course, cats! There is a door in an artist's garden: an elaborate carved passageway into a realm ruled by a dark sorceress queen. There entities strange and wondrous roam the Netherworld––yet none as astonishing as the shape–shifting Catswold... Raised by the oldwitch Mag, Melissa discovers a perilous secret. She has more than one form––human girl and magical cat––and once inhabited two worlds. And it is her destiny to return to a mystic realm of wonder and terror, to do battle for her people's liberation and the crown that is rightfully hers. A man beset by tragedy, painter Braden West is intrigued by the calico cat who has charmed her way into his studio. But his "guest" is more than she seems, and Braden's very existence will be radically altered as he follows Melissa from the Hell Pit into the dread perils of an evil ruling court, thrust into the heart of a magical conflict with more at stake than he could possibly have imagined.

It only takes one spark . . . A new "Robin Hood" is riding the range -- a hero bank robber who's handing over the spoils to poor farmers and needy townsfolk. But the bandit's using powerful explosives in his endeavors -- and military investigator Noah Ford has to put a stop to the altruistic outlaw's destructive ways. But Ford's not investigating alone. Two other federal agents have been assigned to work with him -- shady government men with their feet planted firmly on the wrong side of the law. Suddenly a volatile situation in the town of Willow Bend is in danger of catching fire -- with Ford trapped in the middle of the blaze, torn between what's lawful and what's right. One wrong move and everything could blow up in his face -- because the man Noah Ford is hunting is someone he may not want to catch . . . and the most ruthless and deadly men in the Colorado Territories are the ones on his side.

The first book in the new Noah Ford Western series by Spur Award winner Ed Gorman. A blend of the classic television series The Wild, Wild West and the USA show Peacemakers. Noah Ford made a serious mistake in the eyes of his family when he joined the Union forces—and his Rebel brother David took it the worst of all. And to make matters worse, now that the war was over, Noah had taken up as a federal agent, working for the very government that his southern family fought tooth and nail. Now a powerful new weapon, a souped-up Gatling gun—a prototype being developed by the U.S. Army—is missing, and all signs point to David Ford, a notorious black market weapons dealer. And even with the bad blood between them, the last thing Noah wants is for his brother to be killed by federal agents, so he volunteers to track him down and return the weapon to its rightful owner, and let his brother live to die another day. But when Noah attempts to ambush his brother and reclaim the gun, things quickly spiral out of control. Bullets fly and now his partners AND his brother end up dead, and Noah narrowly escapes with a near-fatal gunshot wound. It turns out the gun means more to someone else than it did even to his brother, and when new bodies turn up around every corner, Noah must think fast and act even faster if he wants to come back from this assignment alive.

Meet Whitney, Taylor, and Charisse, three women who have been best friends since high school. However, this devoted troika is about to discover a wave of unexpected troubles. Whitney is a plus-size woman who just can't turn down a box of Krispy Kremes or find a man who will stay put. Taylor is in a long-term relationship with a boyfriend who's allergic to commitment. Charisse is married, with two adorable children, but somehow doesn't have what she really wants—or needs. Then suddenly Charisse spins out of control. Her doormat husband manages to stand up to her and even threatens to go public with a very shady secret Charisse had hoped to keep hidden, especially from her interfering mother. Desperate, she decides that only a very risky scheme will save her. One constant for these women has been the support they've offered one another. But this time, how far can friendship goIn this witty, rollicking, deeply poignant story, Kimberla Lawson Roby demonstrates the storytelling magic that has won her legions of adoring fans and made her novels bestsellers.

Fall has fallen upon Judith McMonigle Flynn, leaving her Hillside Manor nearly devoid of guests. And what better cure for the off-season blahs than a brief bout of BB sifting for a friend amid the quiet rustic splendor of secluded Chavez IslandJudith and cousin Renie both are more than ready for some relaxation. But their peace goes to pieces when Renie conks an odious interloping blowhard on the noggin with a heavy china dish-and, moments later, the woozy lout takes a fatal tumble down an inconvenient staircase. Judith suspects that death by dinnerware was not the real cause of this fellow's demise. But to prove her cantankerous cuz innocent, she'll have to uncover the real killer from among the motley island crew. And that could pile a lot more nastiness on Judith's plate than the harried bed-and-breakfast hostess can consume in one sitting!

From the mega-bestselling author of Beaches , a new novel, available in mass market for the first time, once again celebrating female relationships. Two very different women fulfil a childhood promise to take care of one another no matter what.Dahlia Green is a struggling songwriter in Los Angeles who has fallen on hard times. She's had few of her songs recorded, but lately there's been a long pause between sales and she's starting to believe she'll never sell another song. As a child Dahlia and her cousin Annie wrote duets together as child play. Then Annie was diagnosed with schizophrenia and for all of her adult life has cycled in and out of mental hospitals where no one ever goes to visit her. Now twenty-five years later Dahlia has a chance to shine again by selling a song she and Annie wrote. So she tracks Annie in an institution and brings her home in hopes of convincing her to sign away her rights to the tune. But what starts out as a scheme to get ahead and exploit her cousin results in Dahlia putting someone else's needs above her own for the first time in her life. She fulfils a childhood promise made long ago to take care of one another no matter what.

Written in the classic noir tradition of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep , Straits of Fortune is a fast-paced and sometimes deadly adventure set in America's sexiest city. Ex-cop Jack Vaughn, the best thing to happen to crime fiction since Chandler's Philip Marlowe hung up his holster, moved from the gritty streets of New York to Miami to work as a personal trainer. The sun, sand, and tanned bodies of Miami are a welcome distraction from the haunting memory of another cop's death in New York. But when he becomes involved with millionaire businessman Colonel Patterson, he realizes his newfound peace is short-lived.The Colonel offers Jack a hundred grand to do a seemingly simple favor. But getting involved with the Colonel also means getting involved with his daughter, the exotic wild child Vivian, who once broke Jack's heart. Jack had sworn to forget her, but this memorable cast of characters lures him back into their double-dealing circle.The deeper he gets, the more Jack finds himself entangled in an ever-expanding web of lies, lust, and violence. A dark, hard-boiled look at the dangerous underbelly of glamorous Miami, Straits of Fortune is an unforgettable debut novel.

Some marriages are made in heaven . . . Some are not.What happens when "the happiest day of your life" turns into a nightmareForget the drunken best man or the bridesmaid dresses from the '80s . . . none of these wedding day disasters can compare to a cursed bride determined to make it down the aisle, or a vampire who is about to disrupt your wedding.Join New York Times bestselling authors Maggie Shayne and Jeaniene Frost, USA Today bestseller Kathryn Smith, as well as Terri Garey in four unforgettable tales of unholy matrimony . . . where the grooms are dark, dangerous, and mostly dead, and to love and cherish till death takes on a whole new meaning.

Bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle and her policeman beau Joe Flynn hgave finally gotten hitched-and they're off on a sunny honeymoon to beautiful Buccaneer Beach.But an unfortunate confrontation with a dune buggy run amok puts hubby Joe in hospital traction-leaving his beleaguered blushing bride stranded in paradise with a bad case of ennui by the sea. Luckily irrepressible cousin Renie has selflessly agreed to keep Judith company. And when the landlady of their cozy, costly cottage by the shore turns up dead in their living room, the cousins suddenly have a murderous mystery to keep them afloat. Rumors of a fortune in buried pirate gold add spice to their adventure. But digging up both a treasure and a killer is dirty business-and Judith and Renie might end up digging their own graves.

Van Gogh-ing...going...gone! Poor Judith McMonigle Flynn! All she wants is a much-needed break from the rigors of running Hillside Manor. But she and cousin Renie have barely set foot in their family's backwoods vacation cottage...and already they're having a brush with the local law. It appears someone has painted their neighbor, world-renowned artist Riley Tobias, permanently out of the picture. And the artful slayer has managed to frame luckless Judith for the crime! But the model amateur sleuth isn't about to sit still for this , as she and her cuz canvas the countryside in search of a killer. Judith is certain the culprit can be found in the rogues' gallery of oily agents, malicious mistresses, and crafty critics who inhabited the defunct da Vinci's surrealistic world. But the cousins could be painting themselves into a dangerous corner with this unofficial investigation...and setting themselves up for another fatal art attack.Poor Judith McMonigle Flynn! All she wants is a much-needed break from the rigors of running Hillside Manor. But she and cousin Renie have barely set foot in their family's backwoods vacation cottage...and already they're having a brush with the local law. It appears someone has painted their neighbor, world-renowned artist Riley Tobias, permanently out of the picture. And the artful slayer has managed to frame luckless Judith for the crime! But the model amateur sleuth isn't about to sit still for this, as she and her cuz canvas the countryside in search of a killer. Judith is certain the culprit can be found in the rogues' gallery of oily agents, malicious mistresses, and crafty critics who inhabited the defunct da Vinci's surrealistic world. But the cousins could be painting themselves into a dangerous corner with this unofficial investigation...and setting themselves up for another fatal art attack.Poor Judith McMonigle Flynn! All she wants is a much-needed break from the rigors of running Hillside Manor. But she and cousin Renie have barely set foot in their family's backwoods vacation cottage...and already they're having a brush with the local law. It appears someone has painted their neighbor, world-renowned artist Riley Tobias, permanently out of the picture. And the artful slayer has managed to frame luckless Judith for the crime! But the model amateur sleuth isn't about to sit still for this, as she and her cuz canvas the countryside in search of a killer. Judith is certain the culprit can be found in the rogues' gallery of oily agents, malicious mistresses, and crafty critics who inhabited the defunct da Vinci's surrealistic world. But the cousins could be painting themselves into a dangerous corner with this unofficial investigation...and setting themselves up for another fatal art attack.

Michael "Mad Dog" Hertzog lived for soldiering but he wasn't willing to die following the orders of bureaucrats and incompetents. Now he and his private army of warriors-for-hire are doing war Dog's way. Hertzog's right hand man has vanished . . . along with $30 million of Mad Dog's money. The evidence says a trusted British merc has gone rogue, but there may be a different, more virulent form of treachery at work here. There are answers waiting aboard a train racing east from Moscow, carrying Russian gangsters, stolen Siberian diamonds, a shadow team of Iranian agents . . . and a pair of nuclear warheads. Suddenly the stakes have gotten perilously high for Mad Dog, his team, and the world . . . as time ticks rapidly away on a terrifying plot to bathe the Middle East in nuclear fire.

Forty is fabulous for Tessa Craig. Heck, she has it all—a glamorous job as a political speechwriter, a Manhattan duplex, and a handsome boyfriend, Congressman David Weyburn, whose integrity, charisma, and good looks have made him his party's rising star. But her fabulosity fizzles when scandal strikes, and Tessa watches helplessly as her seemingly happy love life and successful career collapse like a house of cards. Tessa realizes it's time to embark on a new journey, one she should have made a long time ago. It's a trip that takes her to the Emerald Isle and back, leading her heart in unimagined directions. She makes new friends, unexpectedly adopts a new family (or do they adopt her?), and discovers unanticipated love with silver-tongued, green-eyed, aspiring pub owner, Jamie Doyle. And, most importantly, Tessa makes that uphill climb over the rainbow to find the ultimate pot of gold: Herself.

At the age of eight Brian Lackey is found bleeding under the crawl space of his house, having endured something so traumatic that he cannot remember an entire five hour period of time. During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night, but these fragments are not enough to explain what happened to him, and he begins to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter. Neil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years, curious about his developing sexuality, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now, ten years later, he is a teenage hustler, a terrorist of sorts, unaware of the dangerous path his life is taking. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and, ultimately, the truth.

When the garishly grotesque clan of wealthy carpet-sweeper magnate Otto Broadie sweeps down upon Judith McMonigle's Hillside Manor Inn, it looks like there'll be a wild night of drinking, dining, and fortune-telling in the offing. But when their soothsayer-for-hire Madame Gushenka drops dead after someone douses her tea leaves with bug killer, harried hostess Judith and her irrepressible cousin Renie are left to clean up the mess. One of the Brodie bunch would dearly love to sweep the Madame's murder under the rug, however, and that might mean eliminating the nosy Ms. McMonigle as well. But with the help of her one-time beau, policeman Joe Flynn, Judith is determined to rattle the dust off some closeted family skeletons, in order to coax a killer out of hiding before coffee is served.

A poet and biographer, Jay Parini is also a novelist whose fiction has been acclaimed as "dazzli/ng," (Los Angeles Times) "achingly beautiful," (Washington Post) and "a subtle masterpiece" (John Bayley in the Times Literary Supplement). In his new novel, The Apprentice Lover, Parini evokes the gorgeous Mediterranean island of Capri during the summer of 1970 as the setting for a sensuous, deeply affecting story of a young American's coming into his own and reconciling himself with his past. When Alex Massolini's brother is killed in Vietnam, he drops out of Columbia University and leaves his conservative family behind for Capri to become secretary to Rupert Grant, a famous British novelist and poet, who dominates the island like a latter-day Prospero. Alex soon finds himself ensnared in a web of love affairs, friendships, and rivalries within the eccentric community that inhabits the idyllic beauty of the isolated Italian island. Among that group are the selfish, cunning, and brilliant Rupert Grant; his wife Vera, a charming and sophisticated social manipulator; the elusive Holly and the mysterious Marisa, who act as Grant's research assistants; the young philosophy student from the Sorbonne, Patrice LaRue; and Father Aurelio, who is desperate for parishioners. The Apprentice Lover traces a young American's enchantment and disenchantment-with his American past, with his new European mentor, and with the various characters on an island famous for its characters. As Alex stumbles upon intrigues and secrets, he tries to balance what others demand of him with his own nascent desires. His apprenticeship in love, literature, and life unfolds with a combination of Mediterranean clarity, wry humor, wit, and emotional power that only a master of fiction could orchestrate.

The Simple Science of a Healthy Life From fitness to diets to emotional health and longevity, what do people who feel and look healthy do differently than those who are overtired, depressed, or out of shapeEvery day we face an avalanche of studies and statistics that tell us what we should or shouldn't eat, how long we need to exercise, or how to protect ourselves from secondhand smoke and the harmful rays from the sun. Not only are these studies often contradictory, but the actual scientific information is usually inaccessible. Moving beyond the myths and misinformation, the advice in these pages is not based on one person's opinions or one expert's study. For the first time the research available on the health of average Americans has been distilled into one hundred essential ways that we can become healthier and happier. Each of the core findings is accompanied by a real life example showing these results in action. ?Eat more often. Oxford University researchers found that people who ate five or six times a day had a 5 percent lower total cholesterol than average and were 45 percent more likely to be able to sustain their target weight than people who ate once or twice a day. ?Who says caffeine is bad for youThe majority of scientific evidence shows that, for a healthy adult, moderate quantities of caffeine (about three cups of coffee per day) pose no significant health risks. ?Home sweet home. People who described their home lives as satisfying were 24 percent more likely to live beyond normal life expectancy, according to a UCLA study.

In this wicked, laugh-out-loud debut novel, five miserable souls struggle to make their mark on Hollywood, the city of the soulless. Rachel Burt, starry-eyed and clueless, has left behind tiny Sugarland, Texas, and her position as Starbucks employee of the month, to pursue her dreams of becoming a screenwriter. The madness begins when she eagerly accepts a position as assistant to Victoria Rush, an aging television diva with "a little pill-popping problem that two tours of duty at Betty Ford couldn't remedy." Rachel learns the ropes from Michaela Marsh, a never-say-die, plastic-surgery perfect "midget Tai-Bo Barbie." Michaela has spent years (and years and years: she is -- gasp -- over thirty!) trying to break into Hollywood, which has given her a healthy respect for the casting couch; but even sleeping with her slimy agent hasn't landed her a meaty role, and the last pilot she almost got, some ten years ago, went to that little nobody, Lisa Kudrow. Jeb, who operates on pure rage, has been fired from more assistant jobs than he cares to count, and he currently teeters on the edge of insanity under Randall Blume, one of the sleaziest agents in Hollywood. Kecia Christy, a no-nonsense Pisces pining for love and addicted to Krispy Kremes, works for Travis Trask, the hottest teen heartthrob since "that other white boy, Leo." More interested in smoking prizewinning pot with his bonehead buddies than in his next movie, Travis is always looking for the next good party -- until his ex-con brother shows up at the front door. Griffin's intelligence and ambition fail to shield him from endless humiliation at the hands of Johnny Treadway, a crass A-list manager with pec and cheek implants and a perpetual tan, courtesy of the Tropical Rays tanning bed he keeps in his office. Johnny takes all the credit while Griffin does all the real work, and Griffin has begun to suspect that selling his soul might not be worth that overdue promotion after all. Once a week, Rachel, Michaela, Jeb, Griffin, and Kecia meet at a dark, unhip watering hole to commiserate. Soon enough, however, the system spits them out, and they must learn to survive through sheer determination, hard-won industry savvy, and luck. At turns hilarious, poignant, and sinfully gossipy, The Assistants will keep you glued to your seat until the final page is turned.