‘Funny and poignant with a gloriously realistic cast of characters. I followed Charlotte's journey avidly, cheering her on all the way. An unputdownable read.’Rachel Burton, author of The Many Colours of Us Don’t get mad, get even… Thirty-something Charlotte’s Emsworth’s life is a sickeningly perfect round of charity events, hot yoga, and romantic gestures for sexy lawyer husband James. But, patiently waiting to get pregnant, Charlotte is bored. And when she’s bored, she has a tendency to meddle… First, it’s her personal trainer Megan’s cheating fiancé, then the gardener Sam’s wife’s ‘late nights at the office’. But soon the meddling, however well-intentioned, lands Charlotte in way over her head, and all the time spent ‘managing’ other people’s lives makes her blind to the cracks appearing in her own… Getting even is one thing, but what about getting happy? Perfect for fans of The First Wives Club…

Can he forget the wounds of his past? Dakota Jones had a difficult upbringing but he escaped to the military as soon as he could. Now, after several tours of duty he has finally been discharged. Refusing to return home he arrives in Sullivan's Crossing where his brother Cal and sister Sierra have found a home. Nestled at the crossroads of the Colorado and Continental Divide Trails, the area attracts those looking for answers or direction or a new lease on life. Dakota will come to terms with his less-than-perfect family and will plant the roots he's never had.

Three of Jean Ure’s stories in one bumper volume of classic girly fiction with ‘Sugar and Spice’, ‘Secret Meeting’ and ‘Is Anybody There’? ‘Sugar and Spice’: Geeky Ruth Spicer is shocked when super-cool Shayanne Sugar wants to be her friend. ‘Secret Meeting’: Annie's arranged the coolest birthday present for her best friend, Megan. ‘Is Anybody There?’: The friendship of three girls is tested when one of them accepts a lift with a stranger. These three classic girl’s stories combine vivid characters with real life problems and a touch of humour, making this essential reading for 10 – 12 year old girls.

Stella Smyth and co-author Sally Bergh-Roose have been training dogs since 1978 and have been involved in competition work with a variety of dogs. Together they have been running a successful dog training course for many years.

Danger is never far off… When forensic psychologist Claire Britten started working with lawyer Nick Markwood on his South Shores project, she had no idea it would endanger her life—and the life of her daughter. But when the little girl goes missing from her South Florida home and Nick insists his long time nemesis is to blame, Claire frantically follows the trail to the Cayman Islands, desperate to save her daughter before it's too late. Nick always knew the man who staged his father's "suicide" was out to get him, but kidnapping the child of someone he cares about is despicable. Finding the billionaire criminal is one thing—meeting his demands in order to save Claire's daughter is quite another. What he wants threatens their professional and personal interests beyond imagination…but what choice do they have when a child's life is on the line?

Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving. It's the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it's up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she's known and loved her whole life. But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she's forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends…and forgiveness. Caught in the cross hairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she's strong enough to be the one person to save them all.

A classic Cold War spy story from the bestselling thriller writer Derek Lambert. The Trans-Siberian Express has left Moscow carrying the most powerful, closely guarded man in the Soviet Union – and also the man who plans to kidnap him. Tension aboard the train is at a maximum. The KGB has checked and double checked. But as Vasily Yermakov, the Soviet leader, tries to sleep on the first night in his cabin, he has an uneasy feeling that something is about to go wrong. ‘An exciting new development – not only of Derek Lambert’s skills, but of the thriller too!’ Len Deighton ‘Exciting’ New York Times Book Review ‘Hugely entertaining’ Manchester Guardian ‘A timely and gripping thriller’ Publishers Weekly ‘Bursting with action’ Evening Standard ‘A taut and fast-moving thriller that reeks with authenticity’ Coventry Evening Telegraph ‘Quite superb … It deserves to be a best-seller’ Leslie Thomas

A classic World War II novel from the bestselling thriller writer Derek Lambert. As the Russians and the Western Allies race towards Berlin, the Nazi hierarchy plots to escape the inevitable retribution facing them at the end of World War II. Kurt Wolff is a handsome, blond SS Captain and a member of Hitler’s personal elitist bodyguard. Yet he still has to know the greatest honour of all. He has been chosen to implement Grey Fox – The Saint Peter’s Plot – the most daring and secret mission of the War. As Germany stands on the edge of an abyss, the fate of this once great nation is in his hands. ‘A fine thriller … very hard to put down’ Irish Press ‘Mr Lambert is of the Wilbur Smith school of modern adventure writers – colourfully imaginative, totally convincing’ Manchester Evening News ‘A thrilling novel … written with great sensitivity’ Derby Evening Telegraph

A classic Cold War spy story about the space race from the bestselling thriller writer Derek Lambert. As the Soviet space-shuttle Dove orbits 150 miles above the earth on its maiden flight, Warsaw Pact troops crash into Poland. The seventy-two-year-old President of America wants to be re-elected, and for that he needs to win the first stage of the war in space: he needs to capture the Soviet space shuttle. But as the President plans his coup a nuclear-armed shuttle speeds towards target America – and only defection in space can stop it. ‘Writing as crisp as the Moscow winter … the Soviet setting is magically evocative’ New York Times ‘Lambert, author of many intelligent political thrillers, has another in this fastpaced, complex, and timely novel. Highly recommended’ Library Journal ‘A most satisfying thriller with a highly dramatic finish’ Publishers Weekly

A classic World War II novel from the bestselling thriller writer Derek Lambert. For the beleaguered German and Russian armies there is no war beyond the carnage in the city’s grim skeleton, and the terrible winter at their heels. Desperate men need heroes to boost their morale: orders come from the very top for a duel between champion snipers Antonov the Russian, and Meister the German – a contest each must win. For the two marksmen there is now no war but the race to pin the other in their sights. And no other companion, either, than the stranger whose mind each must read. Dead heroes or living legends? Only time will tell. ‘The book is perfect. The horror of war is captured by the spare prose; the tension mounts, and the inevitable confrontation is uplifting in its outcome’ Daily Telegraph ‘Told me more than all the military historians ever could about the greatest battle of World War Two’ Daily Mail ‘Tense and gripping … a most effective chiller’ British Book News ‘One is reminded of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness … For those who like to be in the thick of it, this book is a must’ Surrey and South Middlesex Times ‘A good war story’ Kirkus Reviews ‘A unique tour de force … poignant, cogent, a strong novel, suspenseful and fascinating, a novel not easily forgotten’ Florida Sun News

The third instalment in the Shadow of the Storm series Jeniche and Alltud have been on an adventure for nearly three years. Now, the time has come for them to go home. But as they leave their hostel in the dead of the night, these plans are thwarted. The Qasireu of Alboran awaits the two travellers with a quest: they must move an item of great value, whose identity is to remain unknown. Carrying this item across the dusty moutains, they make a chance encounter: a woman from her past, who seems to know a great deal about the amulet around Jeniche’s neck and the power it possesses. Yet, the amulet isn’t the only secret the travellers carry with them. For little do they know, the item they are moving could pose a threat to the entire world.

Lydia Ackland was nearly blind when she fell downstairs and was killed. Her grandchildren have always accepted the official verdict – accident. Besides, they have their own problems: beautiful Kate is ending a love-affair; her brother Daniel is painfully crippled. But then that letter comes to light. Only days before her death, somebody wrote and warned their grandmother that she was ‘opening a disastrous Pandora’s Box’ and should ‘let sleeping, and perhaps dangerous, dogs lie’. The letter goads Kate and Daniel into asking lots of questions. First, who wrote it? And why does the answer, once discovered, point to their arrogant Uncle Mark, who, with his ambitious wife Helen, has inherited Longwater, the vast family estate, and the vast fortune that goes with it. Why were Mark and Helen banished from England in their youth and what are the secrets behind their long European exile? Kate follows their footsteps through Italy and Corsica, while Daniel continues to ask questions in England. Within days, both their lives have been threatened, confirming their suspicions that all is not a it seems – and perhaps never has been…

This is the true story of C.S. Lewis – one of the greatest writers of the 20th-century – whose books for children and adults have become much loved classics. Part of the story of C.S. Lewis has been made famous through the film ‘Shadowlands’. Here this fascinating man’s entire life story is told by those who knew him personally. C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast in 1898 and was sent to England for a public school education with his elder brother, Warren. Lewis exhibited a genius for imagination and perception from his earliest years. Brought up in a Christian household, Lewis lost his faith in his teenage years but was to regain it, with reluctance, as a fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford. His faith subsequently influenced his writings. He became a vigorous champion of the Christian faith through classics such as ‘Mere Christianity’ and through his BBC broadcasts. His ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ became children’s classics and he was deluged with correspondence from his young readers. In his latter years he unexpectedly fell deeply in love with a divorced American, Joy Greshem, and married her, only to suffer the devastation of her death a few years later. C.S. Lewis died in 1963 at his home in Oxford. During his lifetime C.S. Lewis suggested to his friend, Roger Lancelyn Green, who was a fellow English scholar, that he would undertake his biography one day. After Lewis’s death in 1963 Lancelyn Green and Walter Hooper were approached by several of Lewis’s friends to write the biography. Warren Lewis, brother to Jack, contributed a great deal to the writing. The authors had at their disposal a vast collection of letters and diaries, as well as the recollections of many surviving family members and friends. Walter Hooper has enhanced the original text with additional material to provide a new, expanded edition which all C.S. Lewis fans will be keen to own.

At the age of only 36, Sir Mark Sykes was signatory to the Sykes-Picot agreement, one of the most reviled treaties of modern times. A century later, Christopher Sykes’ lively biography of his grandfather reassesses his life and work, and the political instability and violence in the Middle East attributed to it. The Sykes–Picot agreement was drawn by the eponymous British and French diplomats in 1916 to determine the divide of the collapsing empire in the event of an allied victory in World War I. Excluding Arab involvement, it negated their earlier guarantee of independence made by the British – and controversy has raged around it ever since. But who was Mark Sykes? A century on, Christopher Simon Sykes reveals new facets of a misremembered diplomatic giant. Using previously undisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather, he delivers a comprehensive and humbling account of the man behind one of the most impactful policies in the Middle East.

Who is Paul Noble?Paul Noble is a genius, yet he still left school unable to speak a language – he found that the traditional learning methods left him feeling ‘confused, incapable and unable to really say anything’. Determined that there must be a better way to learn, Paul spent years devising his own unique method of learning languages which cuts out all of the grammar, all of the rote learning, and all of the stress. He began using his method to teach in his Language Institute and, hundreds of students later, he prides himself on never having had a student fail.

Compiled by a team of scientists,and edited by Jill Bailey in consultation with Sir John Burnett, Chairman of the Trustees,National Biodiversity Network and Dr Andrew Lack,Senior Lecturer in Environmental Biology,Oxford Brookes University

Cats are now the most popular pets, and it is not surprising that they have overtaken dogs in the popularity stakes. They are small, relatively silent, economical to keep, exercise themselves, easy to feed, and are ideal companions for a wide range of people, from the elderly to those who are out at work all day.Whether you want an ordinary moggie or an expensive pedigree cat, the principles of ownership and looking after them are the same. As an increasing number of owners live in big cities and small, high-rise apartment blocks, house cats are becoming more widespread. Although they may not be allowed outside like their free-roaming, predatory cousins, they share a common ancestry and owning a cat of any description is like having a relatively wild creature living with you in your home. Domestication is anathema to many cats who prefer to think that they are independent animals, under the control of nobody but themselves.

It’s either fight, or die… The second gripping thriller in an exciting new series featuring FBI agent Jane Hawk, from the master of suspense and New York Times No.1 bestselling author. ‘Do what you were born to do’ These are the words that ring in the mind of a mild-mannered and beloved teacher as she drives a car full of burning gasoline into a hotel. This catastrophic act of terror, which kills herself and many others, is deemed to be the tragic death of someone who was clearly insane. But rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk knows the truth. In the wake of her husband’s inexplicable suicide, she picks up the trail of a secret cabal of formidable players who are bent on obtaining world power with a terrifying piece of technology. Driven by love for her husband and fear for her five-year-old son who she has sent into hiding, Jane has become an unstoppable predator. Those she is hunting will have nowhere to run when her shadow falls across them.

The stunning new standalone, with a chilling edge of psychological suspense, from the No.1 bestselling author of the Will Trent and Grant County series. Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind… Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy smalltown family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father – Pikeville's notorious defence attorney – devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night. Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself – the archetypal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again – and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatised – Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case which can't help triggering the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime which destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried for ever…

“You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre.” One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre world for nearly five decades. The winner of numerous awards, including multiple Tonys and an Oscar, Lloyd Webber has enchanted millions worldwide with his music and numerous hit shows, including Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera―Broadway’s longest running show―and most recently, School of Rock. In Unmasked, written in his own inimitable, quirky voice, the revered, award-winning composer takes stock of his achievements, the twists of fate and circumstance which brought him both success and disappointment, and the passions that inspire and sustain him. The son of a music professor and a piano teacher, Lloyd Webber reveals his artistic influences, from his idols Rodgers and Hammerstein and the perfection of South Pacific’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening,’ to the pop and rock music of the 1960s and Puccini’s Tosca, to P. G. Wodehouse and T. S. Eliot. Lloyd Webber recalls his bohemian London youth, reminiscing about the happiest place of his childhood, his homemade Harrington Pavilion―a make-believe world of musical theatre in which he created his earliest entertainments. A record of several exciting and turbulent decades of British and American musical theatre and the transformation of popular music itself, Unmasked is ultimately a chronicle of artistic creation. Lloyd Webber looks back at the development of some of his most famous works and illuminates his collaborations with luminaries such as Tim Rice, Robert Stigwood, Harold Prince, Cameron Mackintosh, and Trevor Nunn. Taking us behind the scenes of his productions, Lloyd Webber reveals fascinating details about each show, including the rich cast of characters involved with making them, and the creative and logistical challenges and artistic political battles that ensued. Lloyd Webber shares his recollections of the works that have become cultural touchstones for generations of fans: writings songs for a school production that would become his first hit, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; finding the coterie of performers for his classic rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar; developing his first mega-hit, Evita, which would win seven Tonys Awards, including Best Musical; staking his reputation and fortune on the groundbreaking Cats; and making history with the dazzling The Phantom of the Opera. Reflecting a life that included many passions (from architecture to Turkish Swimming Cats), full of witty and revealing anecdotes, and featuring cameo appearances by numerous celebrities―Elaine Paige, Sarah Brightman, David Frost, Julie Covington, Judi Dench, Richard Branson, A.R. Rahman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Richard Rodgers, Norman Jewison, Milos Forman, Plácido Domingo, Barbra Streisand, Michael Crawford, Gillian Lynne, Betty Buckley, and more―Unmasked at last reveals the true face of the extraordinary man beneath the storied legend.

Roy Porter is Professor of the Social History of Medicine at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. He is the editor of the Fontana History of Science series, and the author of over sixty-five books, including the acclaimed bestseller ‘London: A Social History’. His book on the history of madness in England, ‘Mind Forg’d Manacles’, won the Leo Gershoy Prize.