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?

    At a very tender age, Justice solicited her body to get the normal necessities of life. Escaping her long time pimp Mack, Justice ended up in the cold streets of California. With dreams of being rescued by a knight and shining armor, she got exactly what she wished for. However, this Knight showed up in a tinfoil suit and pistol.Cocky and deadly, football star and street legend "Champion King" miraculously sweeps Justice off her feet. Understanding that every diamond has imperfections, Champions mind is still clouded with thoughts of her occupation and not to mention his infidelity.Falling madly in love with the well known football mogul, Justice is constantly hurt by his actions. They say true love's the greatest weapon to win the war caused by pain so Justice refuses to give up. Will Champion over look the fact he has falling madly in love with a prostitute before it's to late?In this heart filling love saga love is tested but "Nothing Real Can Be Threatened."

    After a rough year, this move to the seaside town of Whitby is a fresh start, a chance to forget the past. But Kate begins to feel that she’s being watched all the time, even within the walls of her new home. She hears footsteps in the attic and sees a car leaving the house and driving onto the moors in the dead of night. The police are combing those moors for the body of a missing woman and Kate believes she knows who might be responsible. But she’s been in trouble for making false accusations in the past so the police won’t believe her this time unless she uncovers concrete evidence to back up her claims. When she goes looking for that evidence, she discovers that nothing is as it seems and the building in which she now lives hides a chilling secret. The Flat is a riveting psychological thriller with a heart-stopping twist. Get ready for edge-of-your-seat surprises and gripping suspense in a book that will enthrall fans of Adam Croft, Mark Edwards, and Rachel Abbott.

    After the baby shower blow-up and the loss of her favorite cousin, Keisha is confused and angry about her life. Hearing that the love of her life got another chick pregnant may make her revert to her old self. Black isn’t about to let her go that easily, though. Especially, when she is carrying his twins. He also has another set of problems with his plug’s new woman that may cost him his life in the end. Laniah isn’t sure she wants to be with Demark after her heartbreak, and she just wants to be left alone, but Demark will do anything to prove his love to her; he will do something that she wasn’t even prepared for to prove it. Their enemy, Gary, lurks in the darkness, but he will soon show himself like they’ve never seen him before

    

     The Celts were spread through out Ireland and Scotland, men and women of power and determination, and in the pages of this limited edition collection, you'll find an explosion of legendary Celtic adventure and passion. Through the mists of time, these tales bring forth the very best in Celtic historical romance. Also included is an exclusive sneak-peak of HIGH WARRIOR, Le Veque's exciting April 2018 release. In this collection, you will find: Black Sword: An Irish rebel, an English captive, and an unforgettable romance explodes. The Darkland: An Irish legacy knight serves a wicked lord with a terrible secret. Echoes of Ancient Dreams: A Dark Ages Irish king is transported to modern times and back again. SeaWolfe: An English pirate and his Irish prisoner find love on the shores of Cornwall. And an exclusive excerpt from HIGH WARRIOR, not available anywhere else. Enjoy this limited edition collection while it lasts!

     “Invisible”, Book One of The Alpha Company Women Series is currently available free on Amazon (.com, .co.uk, .ca & .au) In Relentless, (Book One) we’re reunited with Zach Tucker, former US Ranger and nephew of Ryan Tucker, the owner of Stalwart Security Services. Zach has spent the last six months trying to avoid his Uncle’s PA, Sacha De Marco, ever since his friend Marcus dropped the bombshell that the young Italian American beauty had a serious case of the hots for him. While most red-blooded males would give anything to have a woman as gorgeous as Sacha lusting after them, there were too many reasons why Zach thought he should stay clear of her. Firstly, there was the age difference. Eleven years may not sound like much, but it meant that when he turned forty in a few years, Sacha would still be a beautiful twenty-something! Too much, right? Then there was the fact that she still lived with her parents and seemed so …inexperienced. So not what he was looking for. And of course, he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was still suffering PTSD from his time in the military. Not only was he still suffering nightmares about the day two years before when he’d been shot by one of his own men, but he was actively trying to ensure that the nightmares didn’t stop. Nuts, right? But just because he couldn’t ever be with Sacha, it wasn’t because he didn’t care about her. If anything, he cares too much. And therein lies the problem – he can’t show her how he feels because he doesn’t want to give her false hope. When he discovers that Tuck intends to take Sacha with him on what could be a highly dangerous visit to Colombia, he challenges Tuck as to why he’s taking Sacha at all when she could stay safe and sound in the bosom of her family. Ok, in hindsight, maybe that was what he should have said. Sadly, what came out of his mouth, in front of the whole senior management team, was something completely different. Instead of stressing his concern for her safety, he suggests that Sacha’s job is so easy, booking flights and hotels etc., that she can just as easily do it from her desk in Philly as she can from anywhere else. The unspoken, but implied suggestion is that a buffoon could probably do the job from anywhere! When Zach tries to make things right he only succeeds in making them worse, and eventually it takes being knocked flat on his ass by the one person he respects more than anyone, to realise that actually, he’s been fighting the wrong battle. Having had his epiphany, imagine Zach’s dismay when he discovers that Sacha has gained another admirer, the handsome, intelligent and charming son of their billionaire client. Yeah, nothing to worry about there! When Zach tags onto the group heading to Colombia with their clients, his one and only goal is to convince Sacha that he’s not really as stupid as his actions have led her to believe. But when they cross paths with a Colombian drug cartel, the deaths of two of their team puts everything else into perspective. More lives are now at risk, and Zach and Sacha have to put any budding relationship on hold. Working with the Alpha-Stalwart team as the life or death situation unfolds, their silly misunderstandings are put into context as they both face a loss that will be almost impossible to overcome. A Stalwart Security Series Military Romance (Follow-up to The Alpha Company Women Series)

    

    You'll fall in love with the story of Noah and Allie in a new way through the valuable insight and trusted guidance of CliffsNotes.Inside, you'll get: An author interview and comments throughout by Nicholas SparksAuthor backgroundIntroduction to the novelList of charactersSummaries and commentariesCharacter analysesInsight on underlying themes and Sparks' style and languageCritical essaysDiscover more modern-day treasures and classic literature by visiting CliffsNotes.com.