The characters in Feeding Time are as funny, annoying, sharp, deranged, loving, and infinitely various as everyone else. They deserve dignity, and they know it – which makes it all the more imperative that something is done about the appalling conditions in Green Oaks. A story about the triumph of the human spirit told with verve and originality, to simply outline the plot of Feeding Time is to miss out on the strangeness, zest, and vigor of a deeply impressive debut. It is a triumph of the spirit – and a blast of rage against the dying of the light.

    Once she has told her story, she throws herself at his mercy.Blair soon realizes that Roselyn is as much a victim of her half-brother as anyone, but his people's demands for justice cannot be ignored entirely, so he strips the young Englishwoman bare and chastises her firmly with a switch applied to her naked backside.The painful, humiliating punishment both assuages Roselyn's guilt and leaves her yearning to be even more thoroughly mastered by the handsome laird. Though Blair makes it clear that she is free to return home, she instead chooses to remain with the him in his castle... and in his bed. Their passion soon blossoms into romance, but can the highlander protect his beautiful Sassenach when the villain who caused them both so much pain tries to tear her away from him?Publisher's Note: The Laird and the Sassenach includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.

    Stubborn. Terribly lonely.But everyone deserves a second chance… A dazzling debut for 2020 – are you ready to meet Missy Carmichael? Missy Carmichael’s life has become small.Grieving for a family she has lost or lost touch with, she’s haunted by the echoes of her footsteps in her empty home; the sound of the radio in the dark; the tick-tick-tick of the watching clock.Spiky and defensive, Missy knows that her loneliness is all her own fault. She deserves no more than this; not after what she’s done. But a chance encounter in the park with two very different women opens the door to something new.Another life beckons for Missy, if only she can be brave enough to grasp the opportunity. But seventy-nine is too late for a second chance. Isn’t it?

    Just as it seems that all hope has vanished, he's informed that he is the heir to his great aunt's estate in the bucolic English village of Chambury. Once there, he discovers that his inheritance also includes his late aunt's grieving dog, a vintage typewriter, a mysterious key, and an entanglement in a series of unsolved murders. *****James Ignizio is the author of more than a dozen books, several short stories, and over 350 articles. Included among his novels are "The Dog at the Gate" and the award-winning "The Last English Village," two cozy mysteries that take place in the Cotswold region of England.

    It enables us to recognise the ridiculous, and to empathise with life’s disasters. Take the lives of a self-deprecating couple from England, steeped in life’s troubles, and whisk them across the Channel. Laugh with them as they encounter hilarious situations en France – from troublesome workmen, the infamous bureaucracy, and even sex à la française! Take notes on this transition from English doom and gloom to la belle vie française, and follow the exploits of this oh-so-recognisable English couple. What could possibly go wrong?

     THE LONG DEAD When a routine archaeological dig turns up bodies on the site of a WWII prisoner of war camp, it should be an open and shut case for detective John Blizzard. But forensics discover one of the deaths is more recent and the force have a murder investigation on their hands. STRANGE LITTLE GIRL When a family is brutally murdered, one child is never found. It still troubles DCI John Blizzard to this day. But new clues emerge that will take him deep into the criminal underworld and into conflict with the powers that be. Cracking the case will take all of the detective’s skills, and more. Coming out unscarred will be impossible. THE RAILWAY MAN Few tears are shed when an ex-boxer and local hard man turns up dead. Perhaps only Blizzard is unhappy as the incident interrupts the celebration of the unveiling of the steam locomotive he has lovingly helped restore. There is no shortage of people who might have wanted the boxer dead. But with suspicion of the police and fear of recriminations high, getting any information at all will prove difficult. All three of these books are also available separately on Kindle and in paperback. This box set is available FREE with Kindle Unlimited. The next three books in the series are also available in a box set and separately on Kindle and in paperback. They are: THE SECRETS MAN A BREACH OF TRUST DEATH LIST If you enjoy mysteries that have you guessing until they end, you’ll love these books about hard-hitting detective John Blizzard and his team.

    

    The son of middle-class Norman parents, Becket rose against all odds to become the second most powerful man in England. As King Henry II’s chancellor, Becket charmed potentates and popes, tamed overmighty barons, and even personally led knights into battle. After his royal patron elevated him to archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, however, Becket clashed with the King. Forced to choose between fealty to the crown and the values of his faith, he repeatedly challenged Henry’s authority to bring the church to heel. Drawing on the full panoply of medieval sources, Guy sheds new light on the relationship between the two men, separates truth from centuries of mythmaking, and casts doubt on the long-held assumption that the headstrong rivals were once close friends. He also provides the fullest accounting yet for Becket’s seemingly radical transformation from worldly bureaucrat to devout man of God.   Here is a Becket seldom glimpsed in any previous biography, a man of many facets and faces: the skilled warrior as comfortable unhorsing an opponent in single combat as he was negotiating terms of surrender; the canny diplomat “with the appetite of a wolf” who unexpectedly became the spiritual paragon of the English church; and the ascetic rebel who waged a high-stakes contest of wills with one of the most volcanic monarchs of the Middle Ages. Driven into exile, derided by his enemies as an ungrateful upstart, Becket returned to Canterbury in the unlikeliest guise of all: as an avenging angel of God, wielding his power of excommunication like a sword. It is this last apparition, the one for which history remembers him best, that will lead to his martyrdom at the hands of the king’s minions—a grisly episode that Guy recounts in chilling and dramatic detail.   An uncommonly intimate portrait of one of the medieval world’s most magnetic figures, Thomas Becket breathes new life into its subject—cementing for all time his place as an enduring icon of resistance to the abuse of power.NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYKansas City Star • Bloomberg

    Under pressure from Superintendent Fox, Oliver agrees to stage a week-long puzzle solving course for final year Hendon College graduates, showing them how he looks at the types of clues he’s had to deal with and setting some puzzle solving problems for the class. But minutes before the first session is held, the body of a young woman is fished out of the River Tyne. Torn between the responsibility of running the training course and helping with the case, Oliver struggles to focus on either. As a second body is found, fears of another serial killer on the loose force DCI Jack Collier to enlist Oliver’s help. But when a 3rd body is found in a familiar graveyard, Oliver begins to wonder if the killer is toying with him

    Amongst his few possessions is a dagger which bears an unknown heraldic symbol. He joins a band of mercenaries heading for Venice where the Christians are assembling for the Crusade. On his journey from boy to manhood, discovering a surprisingly natural aptitude for combat, he encounters a secret Brotherhood and their avowed enemy The Order of the Blooded Cross. “The Crusader’s Blade” is the first of three novels that draw heavily on historical detail, intermingling real and fictitious characters and events to give an enthralling portrait of the religious battles of the age.

     Crammed with great photos, this book brings you the jaw-dropping, inside story of Meghan Markle – the A-list actress who stole Prince Harry’s heart. The dramatic moments in her childhood that made her the woman she is today; her love life before Harry; her charity work; her sense of style and sense of self. And of course, Meghan Markle: Her Story tracks her royal romance. How it began. The gifts. The gossip. The glitzy parties. The fabulous holidays. The bumps along the way. All the big moments. And what, at the end of the day, these two people mean to each other. We meet Meghan’s fiery family, cover the controversies that she’s faced and take a look at her amazing career and her doomed first marriage - plus how her former husband is aiming to cash in on his failed relationship with her. Casey North has worked in the media for over ten years and brilliantly captures the essence of one of the world’s most talked-about women. It’s a story of wealth, glamour, love and some surprising twists. Buy the book to get your Access All Areas pass into Meghan Markle’s world right now!

    

    The sight dazed and disturbed us profoundly. I was on the edge of tears. Something priceless was dying in front of our eyes. The feeling was bewildering, as if the earth was shaking.” —Ken Follett“[A] treasure of a book.” —The New Yorker In this short, spellbinding book, international bestselling author Ken Follett describes the emotions that gripped him when he learned about the fire that threatened to destroy one of the greatest cathedrals in the world—the Notre-Dame de Paris. Follett then tells the story of the cathedral, from its construction to the role it has played across time and history, and he reveals the influence that the Notre-Dame had upon cathedrals around the world and on the writing of one of Follett's most famous and beloved novels, The Pillars of the Earth. Ken Follett will donate his proceeds from this book to the charity La Fondation du Patrimoine.

    But such a position for an unmarried woman puts the whole kingdom at risk. So on his deathbed William made a will that would ensure his daughter's protection: he promised her hand in marriage to the future King of France.Eleanor grows into a romantic and beautiful queen, but she has inherited the will of a king, determined to rule Aquitaine using her husband's power as King of France. Her resolve knows no limit and, in the years to follow, she is to become one of history's most scandalous queens.

    But pragmatic professional writer Anna, who has been unlucky in love in L.A., has come here with keys to her aunt's empty apartment. Bilingual and blessed with dual citizenship, she seeks solace in the delectable pastries, in the company of old friends, and in her exciting new job: translating a mysterious, erotic French novel by an anonymous author.Intrigued by the story, and drawn in by the mystery behind the book, Anna soon finds herself among the city's literati—and in the arms of an alluring Parisian—as she resolves to explore who she is . . . in both cultures.