Yet if evil is on the retreat, why are hordes of goblins and bloody-capped powries slashing their way ever-deeper into civilized lands? A sinister threat now looms over Corona, for the power of the demon dactyl was not entirely vanquished by the sacrifice of the monk Avelyn Desbris. Instead, its darkness has infiltrated the most sacred of places--as a once-admired spiritual leader rededicates his life to the most vicious, most insidious revenge against the forces of good. There may be no stopping the spread of the malignant evil.

    At a young age, Rafael was exposed to many languages. By the time he was seventeen, he was the master of five languages. He quickly added a sixth language - English - to his linguistic collection. After a brief stint in the business world, Sabatini went to work as a writer. He wrote short stories in the 1890s, and his first novel came out in 1902. Sabatini was a prolific writer; he produced a new book approximately every year. He consciously chose to write in his adopted language, because, he said, "all the best stories are written in English." In all, he produced thirty one novels, eight short story collections, six nonfiction books, numerous uncollected short stories, and a play. He is best known for his world-wide bestsellers: The Sea Hawk (1915), Scaramouche (1921), Captain Blood (1922) and Bellarion the Fortunate (1926). Other famous works by Sabatini are The Lion's Skin (1911), The Strolling Saint (1913) and The Snare (1917).

    The Apple Tree comprises the first 24 tales of this collection. For the majority of the stories the author grouped works of a similar theme in pairs, one from before 1914, the other written after 1914, in a deliberate attempt to illustrate how his ideas and technique changed over time. The stories themselves encompass a wide range of topics and emotions, from despair and death to salvation and hope, and there is even an appearance by the Forsyte family. Written in Galsworthy’s descriptive and engaging manner, this collection is a thought-provoking and entertaining body of work.

    But in 19th century France, one courtesan created sensation not only through the scandalous deeds that sprung from her lifestyle but also through her death. Yet, what her contemporaries didn’t know was that her fame wasn’t born thanks to her beauty, but from a woman’s utter determination to overcome a childhood of endless torture, abandonment, and mistreatments; from a soul's desperate need to forget her past. The story of Marie Duplessis, the woman behind masterpieces such as Alexandre Dumas Fils' The Lady with the Camellias and Verdi's Traviata, is the story of a peasant girl who surpassed all suppressions her era imposed on its women, to become one of the most famous individuals 19th century Europe had ever known.

    Featuring Newford fiddler Geordie Riddell, it's a gentle story of love, loss and the bonds of friendship.First published in Post Mortem edited by Paul F.Olson and David B. Silva, 1989; also appears in Dreams Underfoot and The Very Best of Charles de Lint.Timeskip is where Newford began: "Newford was not planned out in advance. It started (unbeknownst to me) with“Timeskip,” a short story that I wrote for an anthology. I wanted to set the story somewhere other than the Ottawa area where most of my stories had taken place, but I didn’t feel comfortable writing about a city that I couldn’t physically visit. So I decided to use various aspects of large urban centers that I had visited, and create a fictitious setting."–Charles de Lint, from an interview with FairyRoom.com"I can never recapture the feeling of first arriving in Newford and meeting the people and seeing the sights as a newcomer. However, part of the beauty of Newford is the sense that it has always been there, that de Lint is a reporter who occasionally files stories from a reality stranger and more beautiful than ours. De Lint also manages to keep each new Newford story fresh and captivating because he is so generous and loving in his depiction of the characters. Yes, there are a group of core characters whose stories recur most often, but a city like Newford has so many intriguing people in it, so many diverse stories to tell, so much pain and triumph to chronicle."— Challenging DestinyCharles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.— Alice HoffmanCharles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.— Holly BlackDe Lint is probably the finest contemporary author of fantasy– Booklist, American Library AssociationUnlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it’s just damned fine writing.– Quill QuireDe Lint’s evocative images, both ordinary and fantastic, jolt the imagination.– Publishers WeeklyIt is hard to imagine urban fantasy done with greater skill– Booklist, American Library Association

    There has been a recent interest in his philosophical work.

    Lots of suspense, mystery, and romance. No cliffhangers! Part 1 It should have been just another job. I spend every day of my life trying to keep other people safe, but Faith is different. None of this is her fault and yet someone is determined to make her pay. She’s not like anyone I’ve ever met. She is more. She might not have any faith for herself, but she has given me a whole new outlook and I don’t ever want to let that go. Part 2 I don’t put much stock in love or any of that nonsense. I like what I can see, hear, feel, and shoot. I’m a trained security agent. That’s what I do. Except now that I’m in Nashville I’m suddenly faced with a whole new outlook on life. Anna Spenser is different from other people. Someone wants her dead, but she acts as though it’s just a minor bump in the road. Thank goodness her son Levi is more concerned for her safety. In fact Levi is probably the best son ever. Okay. He might actually be the best man ever too. Part 3 Admiring a woman like Harley isn’t normally my thing. She’s in politics for goodness sake. But Harley is different. She’s a bit of an idealist. It’s just too bad that her boss is as crooked as a forked tree. As things spin further and further out of control, my mission changes. Sure. I have to keep that politician alive. But Harley is the one I’m willing to put my life on the line for. Part 4 I’ve never met anyone like Contessa Star. First of all, who makes their actual living by painting naked people? It’s insane! Then I start getting to know Star and her son River and I realize that there is a lot more to this woman than people give her credit for. She’s tough as nails and sexy as hell. After a few days I’m pretty sure she’s got my heart in a jar, which means I’m not giving up until I find the bastard who is messing with her and nail him to the wall. Part 5 Dr. Lacey Baxter is a godsend. The woman is the only one I know who can bust your balls one second and then be empathetic about your horrible childhood the next. She’s an incredible woman who is smarter than all of my team put together. I just hope that I can keep her safe while we finish unraveling the story of a sociopath that started more than six months ago and promises to go down in flames before the final act is finished.

    This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

     At eighty-one, Mae is the matriarch of the Parker family and is accustomed to bending everyone to her will. Everyone, that is, except her great-nephew, Rafe, who runs the huge family-owned operation and is equally as iron-willed. Rafe is not at all happy when he learns that his great-aunt has picked out a wife for him...and invited her, after a recent accident, to recuperate at the ranch. All his life he’s watched Mae manipulate people. He’ll be damned if he’ll fall in love on her order! The Parker Ranch, run by Parker sons and daughters since before The War Between the States. Tough, rugged, fiercely loyal...to each other and to the people they let into their hearts. The West Texans, a 7-book series.

    This is a serial miniseries and the second part of what will become the sequel novel of "Anything He Wants: Dominated By The Billionaire". You can order this and successive parts now or wait until summer to read the entire story in novel (both paperback and ebook) form.Tensions escalate in the second part of the new Anything He Wants: Castaway series!Reunited with Jeremiah, Lucy is forced to come to grips with the decisions she's made in his absence. The billionaire is as insufferable as ever, but just as determined to protect Lucy. From the Caribbean seas of Jamaica to the man-made islands of Dubai, they must travel halfway across the world to find out who is trying to bring down the Hamilton family.But it may be the woman who comes between them that tears the two brothers apart forever. And can Lucy bear to live with the consequences of her actions?

    But his more characteristic work was found in such novels as "The Gentleman from Indiana" (1899), "The Conquest of Canaan" (1905), and the trilogy consisting of "Turmoil" (1915), "The Magnificent Ambersons" (1918) and "The Midlander" (1921). He won two Pulitzer Prizes for novels, for "The Magnificent Ambersons" and for "Alice Adams" (1921). "The Magnificent Ambersons" was memorably filmed by Orson Welles in 1942. Tarkington is also noted for several charming, idealized novels about childhood and adolescence, such as "Penrod" (1914) and "Seventeen" (1916), which occur squarely in the middle of the line of literary development that leads from Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" up to Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine." They are classics of period Americana.

    

    Jess is a reserved and aloof, with a quietness about her brought on by the misfortunes of her young childhood, when she and Bessie arrived motherless from England to South Africa. Then an Englishman, Captain John Niel, arrives to try his hand at the farming life. To his eyes, Bessie is lively and lovely of face and figure -- yet Jess is mystery, with a bright and roving mind and splendid, searching eyes . . . and unwillingly the three of them are drawn together, then torn apart, by the emotions that flare among them.Excerpt from Jess The day had been very hot even for the Transvaal, where, even in the autumn, the days still know how to be hot, although the neck of the summer is broken, that is, when the thunder-storms hold off for a week or two, as they occasionally will. Even the succulent blue lilies - a variety of the agapanthus which is so familiar to us in English greenhouses - hung their long trumpet-shaped flowers and looked oppressed and miserable, beneath the burning breath of the hot wind which had been blowing for hours like the draught of a volcano. The grass, too, near the wide roadway, that stretched in a feeble and indeterminate sort of fashion across the veldt, forking, branching, and reuniting like the veins on a lady's arm, was completely coated over with a thick layer of red dust. But the hot wind was going down now, as it always does towards sunset. Indeed, all that remained of it were a few strictly local and miniature whirlwinds, which would suddenly spring up on the road itself, and twist and twirl fiercely round, raising a mighty column of dust fifty feet or more into the air, where it hung long after the cause of it had passed, and then slowly dissolved as its particles floated to the earth.

    Their mutual attraction causes complications as Finch is the new owner of the Seton family home.

    What then? A harsh word can not be hung up by the neck. He gives you impertinence, give him the same; if he give you a slap, return the blow; he a second, you a third; in the end we will compel you to make peace. Whilst if you fight--well, if _you_ should kill _him_, God be with him for I do not like him much; but if he should perforate you, what a nice piece of business Then who will pay for the broken pots?