Lavender Morning: A Novel [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK]

Lavender Morning: A Novel [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] Author: Zackman, Gabra (Reader) Zackman, Gabra ISBN: 0-7435-7971-2

Category: General & Literary Fiction

Audio CD Simon & Schuster Audio

From Publishers Weekly Family ties, smalltown values and unexpected love in picturesque settings have made Deveraux a longtime bestselling author, so it's no surprise she again delivers on her tried-and-true formula. Jocelyn Joce Minton, daughter of a Williamsburg, Va., debutante and a handyman, is alienated from her family after her widowed father marries a woman who is decidedly not debutante material and has a pair of selfish twins. Joce ends up in the care of an elderly neighbor, Miss Edi, who watches over the girl through college. When Miss Edi dies, she leaves Joce an ancestral manor house and a trove of secrets going back to 1941 that compel Joce to visit Edilean, Va., where she meets the local color, including a sexy lawyer and his sexier gardener cousin--who has a secret or two, himself. Alternating WWII battlefront tragedy with contemporary romance, Deveraux packs in something for every generation, from wicked supermodels to patriotic sacrifice, from planting an herb garden to DNA tests. For all the novel's coincidences and predictability, readers will find it hard to resist the charm of Edilean, the manor house, the town, the woman of many secrets and, of course, the series to follow. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist Jocelyn Minton is a young woman of many contradictions. Her wealthy mother married the local handyman. After her mother dies, her father returns to his blue-collar roots and marries a woman who has two gorgeous twin daughters who torment Joce. The only bright spot in her life is Edilean Harcourt, an older woman who connected with Joce on every level and enriched her life until she died. Joce thought she knew her mentor and protector very well, until Edilean leaves Joce her family home in Edilean, Virginia, and Joce discovers how heavily edited her version of Edilean's life is. As she follows Edilean's instructions and moves into the house and contacts a young lawyer, Joce enters a new world, learns the truth about her dear friend, and meets the insular inhabitants of the town, including her own bad boy—not the lawyer, but his cousin Luke, her gardener. With the promise of future books about surprising and interesting Edilean, veteran storyteller Deveraux incorporates her trademark sweet and salty characters into a pair of entertaining romances, one past, one present, to create one of her most fun and pleasing tales. --Patty Engelmann --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Lucky Streak

Lucky Streak Author: Raudman, Renée (Reader) Raudman, Renee ISBN: 1-4233-4734-X

Category: American Light Romantic Fiction

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Booklist When Detective Mike Corwin, in Las Vegas to celebrate a co-worker's marriage, rescues Amber Rose from a thug, events spiral rapidly out of his control, concluding with a $150K win at the slots after Mike and Amber impulsively wed. Morning-after regrets set in when Mike thinks Amber has conned him and disappeared, but she pursues him back to Boston and convinces him to give her another chance. Phillips invests the second installment in her Lucky contemporary-romance trilogy (Lucky Charm, 2008), featuring the Corwins, who were cursed long ago by a witch, with quirky characters, entertaining scenarios, and a healthy helping of skepticism on the part of the Corwin brides. This allows the couples to support the older generation's reconciliation and recovery from the heretofore-debilitating curse, while the current crop of eligible bachelors finds happiness. --Lynne Welch --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. Product Description Long ago, a witch proclaimed an eternal curse that every Corwin male who married for love would be destined to lose his woman and his fortune… When Mike Corwin awakens after some wild partying in Vegas $100,000 richer and married to Amber, the gorgeous woman he met the night before, he thinks he's hit the jackpot. The bad news is that Amber's a con who takes his money and runs. Seems the family curse has finally hit him. Hard. But to Amber, Mike isn't business as usual. If only she didn't need the money to ensure her father's safety, she might actually have fallen for the intense lawman. Instead, she's forced to betray him. Now Mike's hell-bent on divorce and Amber's on the run…but when a twist of fate reunites them, can they turn their run of bad fortune into a lucky streak?

KnockOut

KnockOut Author: Raudman, Paul Costanzo and Renee (Reader) Costanzo, Paul Raudman, Renee ISBN: 1-4233-6521-6

Category: American Mystery & Suspense Fiction

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Bestseller Coulter's riveting 13th FBI thriller (after TailSpin) opens with a bang as psychic FBI agent Dillon Savich thwarts a gang of gun-totting robbers attempting to hold up the First Union Bank of Washington, D.C. Three days later, seven-year-old Autumn Backman, who sees Dillon on TV, sends him a telepathic message that she's in danger. Though eager to help Autumn, Dillon is busy tracking a bank robber who escaped, a teenage girl now leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. Meanwhile, in Titusville, Va., Autumn's mother reports her daughter missing to sheriff Ethan Merriweather. After finding Autumn, Ethan discovers her sinister uncle, Blessed, has evil designs on his psychic niece. Before Dillon and his fellow FBI agent and wife, Lacey Sherlock, can get to Titusville, Autumn and her mother flee. Well-developed characters and an expertly paced plot that builds to a breathtaking conclusion make this one of the best in this paranormal suspense series. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock have their hands full when Savich is caught in a bank holdup near his Washington, D.C., home. The vicious attack leaves the criminal leader dead and his injured teen daughter swearing revenge. She manages to escape, leading the FBI on a bloody chase. Then Savich receives a message from seven-year-old Autumn through extraordinary means: she contacts him with her mind. Her mother took her to Brickers Bowl, Georgia, to bury her father's ashes, and now her very scary, psychic uncle Blessed is after them. The local sheriff vows to keep her safe, but he has no idea what he's up against. These two cases keep Savich and Sherlock busy trying to protect their family from a brutal psychopathic teenage criminal and a psychotic paranormal family trying to bring a sweet child into their fold so they can manipulate her psychic power for nefarious purposes. This fast-paced thriller, featuring the author's trademark wit in counterpoint to intense action, is an excellent addition to Coulter's popular FBI series. --Patty Engelmann --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Relentless [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

Relentless [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Miller, Dan John (Reader) Miller, Dan John ISBN: 1-4233-5695-0

Category: American Mystery & Suspense Fiction

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Publishers Weekly A bad book review propels this farcical thriller from bestseller Koontz (Your Heart Belongs to Me). Bestselling author Cullen Cubby Greenwich is mortified when Shearman Waxx, the nation's premier literary critic, savages his work. Cubby manages to find the syphilitic swine at Roxie's Bistro in Newport Beach, Calif., where the author's six-year-old prodigy son nearly pees by accident on Waxx in the restaurant's men's room. In retaliation, Waxx threatens Cubby with doom and gets things started nicely by blowing up his house. With almost superhuman ease, the book critic keeps track of Cubby and his family as they flee for their lives. While some may take this as satire, the over-the-top villain's underdeveloped motivation and a jokey narrative tone that jars when juxtaposed with terrifying scenes of violence will leave others scratching their heads. By the time Koontz introduces a science fiction element, a lot of readers may have already checked out. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Review "Koontz is a master of the edge-of-your-seat, paranoid thriller and perhaps the leading American practitioner of the form."-Newark Star-Ledger "Koontz is working at his pinnacle, providing terrific entertainment that deals seriously with some of the deepest themes of human existence: the nature of evil, the grip of fate and the power of love."-Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Koontz has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match." -Los Angeles Times "An exquisite crafting of the thrilling, the unexplainable, and the personal, with the mirth and whimsy that Koontz throws in seemingly effortlessly just when it's most needed and least expected."-Library Journal, starred review "[A] smoothly spun nail-biter.... Koontz still grabs readers as few other thriller scribes can."-Booklist From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Summer on Blossom Street [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

Summer on Blossom Street [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Macomber, Debbie Delilah ISBN: 1-4233-0527-2

Category: American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Publishers Weekly Macomber adds a tear-jerking installment to the Blossom Street series with this account of lives intersecting at the series-hinging yarn store, A Good Yarn. Upbeat cancer survivor Lydia and her pragmatic sister, Margaret, start a Knit to Quit group in their Blossom Street yarn store, hoping to bring in customers for weekly self-help sessions. Casey, the 12-year-old girl Lydia takes in while waiting for an infant of her own to adopt, helps out in the shop when she's not sulking in her room or causing trouble for Lydia's family. Local baker Alix wants a baby as much as Lydia does, but she and her husband agree she needs to quit smoking first. Then there's super-stressed chocolate magnate, Hutch, who takes the knitting class after his doctor suggests it. Hutch hits it off with Phoebe, who is trying to quit obsessing about a broken engagement. Rounding out the crowd, bookstore owner Ann Marie must deal with her adopted daughter Ellen's biological father, a recovering addict, re-entering their lives. Macomber deftly handles the multiple story lines and emotional terrain of families, while the predictably happy ending is very genuine. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Booklist Macomber's new Blossom Street novel begins in Lydia's store, A Good Yarn, located in downtown Seattle. Lydia has a new class, “Knit to Quit,” for people who need to redirect their energies while trying to quit negative habits. Phoebe joins on impulse. She's just called off her engagement for the second time and needs to quit her fiancé, a controlling, self-absorbed manipulator. The small class also attracts Bryan, whose stress-filled job has made this young man a prime candidate for a heart attack. Both find that the knitting helps them with their problems, and brings them together. Our old friend Alix joins to help her quit smoking before she tries to get pregnant. And Lydia herself is a major player this time as she and her husband decide to adopt a baby. What happens instead is heartwarming in the extreme. Macomber's typical strengths are at full capacity in this must-read for her fans, who will find their emotions fully engaged and completely satisfied. --Maria Hatton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Dream Man [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

Dream Man [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Gigante, Phil (Reader) Gigante, Phil ISBN: 1-4233-6314-0

Category: American Light Romantic Fiction

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

Amazon.com Review Setting: Contemporary Orlando, Florida Sensuality: 8 Never comfortable with her fame as an empath, lovely Marlie Keen has led a life free of clairvoyant incidents for several years. But her quiet, ordinary existence is shattered when the unwanted ability to read a murderer's mind returns with a vengeance. Knowing that publicity is sure to follow, Marlie nevertheless tells the police what she knows. Tough detective Dane Hollister first scoffs at her claim that she "sees" the serial killer who's terrorizing Orlando, but it doesn't take long to convince him that she's telling the truth. It takes even less time for him to recognize the attraction between himself and Marlie, but Marlie is incredibly vulnerable to the visions assaulting her and Dane must put his fierce desire on hold while he tries to track down a bloodthirsty madman. A perfect example of why Linda Howard is a leading author of romantic suspense, Dream Man offers a plot that unfolds with precision, suspense that is taut and spine tingling, passion hot enough to peel paint, and breathtaking romance. This is Howard in top form. --Lois Faye Dyer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly Detective Dane Hollister has a tough life. He hasn't had a day off in a month, a serial killer with a predilection for slashing women to death is on the prowl and now a psychic who claims to witness the murders through the killer's eyes has come forward to share her visions. As far as he's concerned, the psychic is as twisted as the slasher. For her part, from the moment she walks into the Orlando police station, Marlie Keen is sorry she offered to help. Hollister (and everyone else) treats her gift of "knowing" with suspicion, but the detective's investigation into Marlie's past convinces him that her gift is genuine. Hollister moves into Marlie's home, nursing her through terrifying and exhausting bouts of clairvoyance. At the same time the two ease the sexual tension threatening to overtake them-which if it doesn't quite make for good police work, does make for steamy romance. The author (Heart of Fire) has obviously done her homework on the procedure used to develop a serial killer's profile and brings this process cinematically alive. Hollister makes the perfect romantic hero. As Hollister's partner says about him: "He's street-smart, woods-savvy, and sly as a fox. A real throwback. Mean, too. Damn, can he be mean! But he turns to putty where women are concerned." Howard's writing is compelling, especially the murder scenes. If you ignore an insipid epilogue bogged down in psychic overkill, this is Howard's best work yet. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Matters of the Heart [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

Matters of the Heart [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Foster, Mel (Reader) Foster, Mel ISBN: 1-4233-2060-3

Category: Popular American Fiction

MP3 CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Booklist Hope Dunne is one of the best photographers in the world, so naturally National Book Award winner Finn O'Neill wants her to do the portrait for his next book cover. Hope goes to London, expecting a photo shoot that lasts a couple of days, tops, but soon succumbs to Finn's devilish good looks and endless charm. The trip to love is short, and Finn soon talks Hope into staying at his Irish family's ancestral home. But Ireland isn't the paradise Hope imagined. Discovering that Finn has told her one untruth after another, Hope has to accept that he is a sociopathic liar. To make things worse, Finn's thoughtful attentions turn to obsession, and he flies into jealous rages with little or no provocation. Hope knows things could be dangerous in Finn's country mansion, that she should break free, but he has snared her with good times and great sex. Hope and Finn each have the sort of emotionally packed backstory Steel's readers expect, while the isolated-woman-in-danger theme gives the novel a modern gothic feel. Steel's fans will be delighted by this story of a woman seduced by a man who is too good to be true. --Shelley Mosley --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Product Description Hope Dunne has carved out a name for herself as a top photographer, known the joys of marriage and motherhood and the heartbreak of loss. In her chic SoHo loft, Hope is content with her life, finding serenity and beauty through the lens of her camera. She isn't looking for a man or excitement. But these things find her when she accepts a last-minute assignment to fly to London at Christmas and photograph one of the world's most celebrated writers – an Irish-American author known for novels of thrilling literary darkness. To Hope's surprise, Finn O'Neill exudes warmth and a boyish charm. Enormously successful, he is a perfect counterpoint to Hope's quiet, steady grace – and he's taken instantly by her. He courts her as no one ever has before, whisking her away to his palatial, isolated Irish estate. Hope finds it all, and him, irresistible. But soon cracks begin to appear in his stories: gaps in his history, lies and bouts of jealousy unnerve her. Suddenly Hope is both in love and suspicious, caring and deeply in doubt, and ultimately frightened of the man she loves. Alone, thousands of miles from home, her mind is reeling. Is it possible that this adoring, attentive man – like the characters in his novels – is hiding something even worse? The spell cast by a brilliant sociopath has her trapped in his web, too confused and dazzled to escape, as he continues to tighten his grip on her.

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Eby, Tanya (Reader) Eby, Tanya Sirois, Tanya Eby ISBN: 1-4233-8542-X

Category: American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

Amazon.com Review Book Description The circumstances of Molly Marx's death may be suspicious, but she hasn't lost her joie de vivre. Newly arrived in the hereafter, aka the Duration, Molly, thirty-five years old, is delighted to discover that she can still keep tabs on those she left behind: Annabel, her beloved four-year-old daughter; Lucy, her combustible twin sister; Kitty, her piece-of-work mother-in-law; Brie, her beautiful and steadfast best friend; and, of course, her husband, Barry, a plastic surgeon with more than a professional interest in many of his female patients. As a bonus, Molly quickly realizes that the afterlife comes with a finely tuned bullshit detector. As Molly looks on, her loved ones try to discern whether her death was an accident, suicide, or murder. She was last seen alive leaving for a bike ride through New York City's Riverside Park; her body was found lying on the bank of the Hudson River. Did a stranger lure Molly to danger? Did she plan to meet someone she thought she could trust? Could she have ended her own life for mysterious reasons, or did she simply lose control of her bike? As the police question her circle of intimates, Molly relives the years and days that led up to her sudden end: her marriage, troubled yet tender; her charmed work life as a magazine decorating editor; and the irresistible colleague to whom she was drawn. More than anything, Molly finds herself watching over Annabel--and realizing how motherhood helped to bring out her very best self. As the investigation into her death proceeds, Molly will relive her most precious moments--and take responsibility for the choices in her life. Exploring the bonds of fidelity, family, and friendship, and narrated by a memorable and endearing character, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx is a hilarious, deeply moving, and thought-provoking novel that is part mystery, part love story, and all heart.

Queen Takes King [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED]

Queen Takes King [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] Author: Eby, Phil Gigante and Tanya (Reader) Gigante, Phil Sirois, Tanya Eby ISBN: 1-4233-2721-7

Category: Fiction

Audio CD Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged

From Publishers Weekly It's War of the Roses fought by The Real Housewives of New York in this hilarious if overlong morality tale of young love, old fools and happy endings. After 25 years of marriage--most of it squandered on unspoken disappointment, stifled grief and wasted affection--ex-ballerina Cynthia Power and real estate tycoon hubby Jackson are headed for divorce. At the same time, Jackson's latest condo project is teetering and Carolyn's ballet board is in turmoil. Though lesbian daughter Vivienne counsels Cynthia to think three moves ahead, Jackson, torn between his ambitious and reckless lover and imperious father, is staying in the game by sheer grit. In the end, these volatile emotional wrecks learn to rely on their hearts. Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on, even if the cast is strictly celluloid: lovely to look at and unlike anyone walking this planet. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Review "A sly, observant report from a rarefied world that's sure to be another big hit."-- Kirkus Reviews "Hilarious... Grazer (The Starter Wife) has Hollywood cred and brings a rollicking romantic-comedy tempo to her story of busting up and moving on." -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.