And certainly what Melville did for whaling Austen does for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye. As usual, Austen trains her sights on a country village and a few families--in this case, the Bennets, the Philips, and the Lucases. Into their midst comes Mr. Bingley, a single man of good fortune, and his friend, Mr. Darcy, who is even richer. Mrs. Bennet, who married above her station, sees their arrival as an opportunity to marry off at least one of her five daughters. Bingley is complaisant and easily charmed by the eldest Bennet girl, Jane; Darcy, however, is harder to please. Put off by Mrs. Bennet's vulgarity and the untoward behavior of the three younger daughters, he is unable to see the true worth of the older girls, Jane and Elizabeth. His excessive pride offends Lizzy, who is more than willing to believe the worst that other people have to say of him; when George Wickham, a soldier stationed in the village, does indeed have a discreditable tale to tell, his words fall on fertile ground. Having set up the central misunderstanding of the novel, Austen then brings in her cast of fascinating secondary characters: Mr. Collins, the sycophantic clergyman who aspires to Lizzy's hand but settles for her best friend, Charlotte, instead; Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Darcy's insufferably snobbish aunt; and the Gardiners, Jane and Elizabeth's low-born but noble-hearted aunt and uncle. Some of Austen's best comedy comes from mixing and matching these representatives of different classes and economic strata, demonstrating the hypocrisy at the heart of so many social interactions. And though the novel is rife with romantic misunderstandings, rejected proposals, disastrous elopements, and a requisite happy ending for those who deserve one, Austen never gets so carried away with the romance that she loses sight of the hard economic realities of 19th-century matrimonial maneuvering. Good marriages for penniless girls such as the Bennets are hard to come by, and even Lizzy, who comes to sincerely value Mr. Darcy, remarks when asked when she first began to love him: "It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing his beautiful grounds at Pemberley." She may be joking, but there's more than a little truth to her sentiment, as well. Jane Austen considered Elizabeth Bennet "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print". Readers of Pride and Prejudice would be hard-pressed to disagree. --Alix Wilber

    

    Both longtime fans and newcomers to Corcoran are sure to enjoy Crime Almost Pays, starring an offbeat pair of private eyes. Dubbie Tanner, a man of substance who used to live in his car, and Wiley Fecko, who once drank and slept in the weeds, are now Southernmost Aristocratic Investigations. While they call themselves The Aristocrats, certain members of law enforcement have been heard calling them the Bumsnoops. Introduced in The Quick Adiòs (Times Six), Tom Corcoran’s most recent Alex Rutledge novel, the rookie investigators have a case in their tropical in-box—and they are over their heads from the start. Rutledge plays no part here—but his friend Key West Detective Beth Watkins must deal with murders, street fights, an attempted kidnapping and a flaky federal agent. The Aristocrats—who now live in and work out of a home bought by Tanner—are hired for a simple task, but the pay is far too generous and the job goes haywire. By helping a stranger, Tanner draws Fecko and their lovely friend Kim Salazar, a Key West cab driver, into a crossfire of intrigue, dirty tricks, scams and potential double-cross. It gets worse. It gets ugly. Cuban tourism, island crazies, typical greed, wealthy fathers, good cops, fearful cops and—okay—there’s a car chase… As in previous Tom Corcoran novels, Key West, with its characters, history, natural beauty and isolation, plays a fundamental role in the story.

    The pressures of war threaten to tear apart two sisters traumatised by their mother's murder by their father.With her new husband Will, a merchant seaman, deployed on dangerous Atlantic convoy missions, Hannah needs her younger sister Judith more than ever. But when Mussolini declares war on Britain, Judith's Italian sweetheart, Paolo is imprisoned as an enemy alien, and Judith's loyalties are divided.Each sister wants only to be with the man she loves but, as the war progresses, tensions between them boil over, and they face an impossible decision.A heart-wrenching page-turner about the everyday bravery of ordinary people during wartime. From heavily blitzed Liverpool to the terrors of the North Atlantic and the scorched plains of Australia, Sisters at War will bring tears to your eyes and joy to your heart.

    Her fiancé taken from her. Esther Weiss sees only one way to fight back.Life is good for Esther and her Jewish family until Hitler annexes their home country Austria. Her wedding to fiancé Carl Bernstein is postponed, and her family's entire life is uprooted.Thinking they’ll be safe in Oslo, the Weiss’s hope is short-lived when Norway is invaded in 1940 and the fascist Quisling Regime is put into place. Esther returns home one day to discover her entire family has been deported. Gone. Without a trace.Something snaps inside Esther. The soft-hearted, gentle girl is no longer. Her desire to fight the enemy becomes her only drive. She joins the Norwegian resistance movement and with her blond hair and light eyes, all it takes is a false passport to give Esther the freedom she needs. The freedom to kill. No German or Norwegian fascist is safe when she’s nearby.Destruction of those who took her family gives Esther a license to live, but it has also hardened her heart. Not even Tore Ringdal, her rock and protector in the Resistance movement, is able to break through the walls she’s placed around her heart.When all she loves is gone, and only hate remains, can the Norwegian Assassin reopen her heart and find love again?

    After being kicked out of a Catholic orphanage when it is discovered that he is of Jewish descent, a confused and deeply distraught Frankie turns to a life of crime, the only life he knows, and he’s good at it. Frankie quickly makes a name for himself and becomes one of New York’s most dangerous men, ruling the city with an iron fist and indulging in his passion for sex, power and the best things life has to offer—regardless of whether they’re for sale.In Stiletto, Cesare Cardinale is an amoral, aristocratic Italian playboy—an entrepreneur and race car driver who wants for nothing—whether it’s fast cars, beautiful women, or orgies of debauchery. Cesare, however, has two dirty secrets: First, he has a penchant for violence that borders on the sadistic and sociopathic; second, he owes his extravagant life to a Sicilian Mafia don, creating a seemingly perfect relationship—as he leads a double life as a Mafia assassin.“Robbins’s books are packed with action, sustained by strong narrative drive, and are given vitality by his own colorful life.” —The Wall Street JournalThe Harold Robbins Organized Crime Double includes: Never Love A Stranger and Stiletto.

    The furthest thing from Yatta’s mind is love and relationships. He’s focused on providing for his family, hitting licks with his day one niggas, Alaric and Zamir, and staying out of the way of the law. But, as fate has it, he meets the alluring Erin Hughes and his perception of love shifts in a new direction. Erin is a born and raised Detroit city girl with dreams as big as her heart. Her love for drawing and painting made her a bit of an out cast. But with the support of her cousin Dreka, her best friend Cassidy and her father, she has never known the feeling of not being loved, despite the lack of it it she received from her distant mother. Erin doesn’t let anything discourage her from living life and being happy. Lately, the one thing that would truly make her happy is being with Yatta. But its easier said than done as many things get on the way of them being together. One of them being Yatta’s baby mama, Cleo. Things slowly unravel and before you know it love, secrets, and deadly decisions causes great turmoil in their lives. Will Erin regret the day she gave her heart to a bad boy? Or will Yatta sweep her off her feet, showing her that bad boys fall in love, too?

    Kari is Javier’s blood, and nothing will stand in his way. If the entire Kassom bloodline must be destroyed for Kari to be where she rightfully belongs, then so be it. Nothing can change the fact that Kari is Juelz daughter, not even a DNA test. Juelz and Zelan are ready to battle Javier to the death to keep Kari home. While a personal struggle is going on, a snake is lurking in their crew and is ready to take over the Kassom empire. New allies are formed, enemies are revealed, and the drama continues in this finale.

    With her family deeply molded into the cartels, she tries to live a more wholesome life as a kindergarten teacher. After the tragic loss of her only son, the blame game and a wicked deception drives the grieving parents in opposite directions. Years later, when he returns to her life, she can’t seem to filter through her conflicted feelings. Sir Vito is YiYa’s weakness. He’s also the one man who has the capability to break down every wall she attempts to hold up against him. With them both still grieving over the loss of their son, emotions are at an all-time high. When it seems like history has a chance to repeat itself, they have to learn to lean on their love for hope to survive. That’s if the two have the strength to fight for love. Omi Wright is an incisive business woman above all. Her high mindedness is the root of her flourishing cocaine transport empire on Norman Cay Island. YiYa is her only true friend that she allows in her life. When the women who raised Omi passes away, it forces the once homeless young girl from the Westbank turned drug trafficker to reunite with her past. Shassius Linares belies his thuggish exterior with his charming ways. He acquires the title as one of the most ruthless international drug lords known to law enforcement and governors. Being that he was raised by La Madrina, nothing stops him from returning to New Orleans to lay her to rest. Not even the fact that he is a wanted man on the run. His deep past with Omi resurfaces with the hard on feelings to match. With him back with his old squad who made him, problem arises. Yeti Wright is Omi’s twin brother whose involvement with cocaine trafficking has moved to high levels. With a wide range of workers under him, he doesn’t regret the relationship he begins with the girlfriend of one of his loyal workers. Nigeria Remington goes from being the girlfriend of a worker to sleeping with the head boss in charge. She captures Yeti’s attention immediately, and even when she seems undecided on who she wants, Yeti comes to her every beck and call when needed. Their relationship is filled with secrets, causing untruths to be revealed. When Nigeria tries to keep up with two men, will the one she chooses be all that she wished for? Will it be too late to go back to the man that she disregarded? Follow the lives of these couples as they try to deal with love lost and found. Will Omi allow Shassius back in after his true colors are shown? Is she even capable of receiving love and giving it back in return? Shassius is a wanted man, so the underlying question is when will his bad karma catch up to him? Will YiYa be able to forgive Sir Vito for not being there when she needed him most? The shell shocking truth of his absence cuts her deep but how will she handle it?

     Ivy, Gin, and Legacy are gunned down in a car while trying to help Dortch with his plan to prevent Kolyon’s wedding, and no one knows if they made it through unscathed. Dortch and Kolyon are burdened with the task of figuring out who would want to attack Ivy and Gin—refusing to believe it’s someone close to them. Is it a person they aren’t aware of behind it, someone they consider family or both? With danger lurking around every corner and unwarranted love blossoming, things could either begin to go in their favor... or simply get worse.

    The way skeletons like to pop out the closet around here, I’m pretty sure that that secret will resurface one day, although I was hoping that it never had to.” Kennedy spoke those words in part one of Finding my Way Back to Love, but what was she talking about? What is this secret that Kennedy’s speaking of that Paris is the only one to know about? Along with that, we left off with Mustafa leaving Logan at the altar. The drama doesn’t just end there. He will have to eventually face Logan, and they have to somehow come to some sort of agreement. Mustafa has made it clear that he wants his family back, but sometimes, it’s just not that easy. If Mustafa and Kennedy can get it right, they can actually be one of the best couples around, but the secret that she’s been holding in won’t stay buried much longer. Everyone wants nothing more but for Mustafa Strong and Kennedy Strong to become one again, but do they really have what it takes to cross that line and become a family again?

    This isn't the story about governments or high-level players. This is a story about everyday heroes and how they learn to survive when the world around them is crumbling. It's also a story about silver linings and hidden hope. Our heroes in and villains include:- Dottie Roth: a quiet retiree with a secret past.- Fran Markus: a mercenary for hire with a gift for disposal.- Chuck Yarling: a Vietnam vet with a penchant for survival.- Fabian Moon: a supply and logistics expert who is sucked into black market trade.- Sandy Kaplan: a high school drivers education instructor with a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.See how their tales weave in and through each others, and find out about the surprising benefit gifted by this powerful pandemic.

    Literally. He talks to animals to see clues other people would overlook. Like when the proud owner of a pair of Scotties goes missing, Griff knows foul play has to be involved, because the dogs tell him there’s no way she’d leave her pampered pooches alone in the winter. But when he shows too much interest in what the Scotties have to say, an attractive police detective takes the wrong kind of interest in him. Viewing him as a possible suspect, she digs up secrets about Griff he would have preferred left buried. And that’s not even his biggest problem—taking the dogs into his home has made him a target of the victim’s abductor. This makes him scurry to solve the case, because as an expert on animal behavior, there’s one thing Griff knows to be true: the most dangerous animal is the human animal.

    For a limited time get the complete Incredible Billionaires Romance Series Box Set that includes these 3 full length romance novels:Billionaire ProducerMy Sister’s BillionaireCaring For The BillionairePlus, they all have a HEA.

    The infuriating beauty owed him big-time. So Gavin took great pleasure in making her pretend to be his girlfriend and having her up close and personal. The Sarantos Secret Baby He was as tall and dark as the devil and was her family's hated adversary. But that didn't stop Selene Louvardis from wanting Aris Sarantos with her every breath. Or grabbing her one chance for a forbidden night with him. He was never supposed to learn she'd borne his child. For if Aris did discover the truth, nothing would stop the ruthless billionaire from claiming his own.