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

    To Kill a MockingbirdThe Shoes of the FishermanSeven Days in MayTo Catch an Angel

     A Texas Ranger, relegated to deskwork due to past recklessness, petitions to regain custody of his five-year-old daughter, and his case is assigned to a family court judge who is as attractive as she is ambitious. When a masked gunman barges in during the custody hearing with his sights on the judge, the Ranger reacts instinctually and goes after him. But authorities apprehend the wrong man, and the real gunman remains unknown, at large, and a threat. Will this take-charge lawman jeopardize his chances of custody by going after the would-be assassin? And will this unlikely pair be able to deny the forbidden attraction building between them?

    Knights of blood and of war bring forth the very worst that Medieval brutality has to offer, but in that darkness, there is a ray of hope. Women of brightness shine the most when confronting the darkness within men. Be shocked at nothing within the pages of this collection, for these novels will take you into the blackness and back again, where love reigns supreme, even over evil.Romance comes in many shades, in many ways.This set contains:DarkWolfe – A de Wolfe son puts a tragic past behind him and finds love with an enemy.DarkMoon – A special ops knight finds an unexpected romance. Will it cost him a life-long friendship?Dark Steel – A happenstance creates a new duke – who falls into a surprising romance.The Dark Lord – The darkest lord of all finds a woman to tame his vicious ways.Guardian of Darkness – A noble knight and a Scottish hostage find love amidst a web of royal lies.The Dark Lord’s First Christmas – Bonus book! The Dark Lord discovers the meaning of Christmas.The original Medieval Romance novels with no cliffhangers, no cheating, and always with a Happily Ever After.

    He just wants to live an anonymous life and be a good dad to his daughter. But when a local girl vanishes, he’s asked to return to the skills that made him a mythic figure in the shadowy world of counterterrorism.Follow Levon and his daughter while they go on the run from the feds and a growing army of enemies that Levon makes along the way.

    She and her two younger sisters gather at his side, praying he’ll live… At a time like this, falling in love is the last thing on Valerie’s mind. And with Dr. Colby Winston, of all people! He’s David’s heart surgeon, a renowned specialist who enjoys small-town living, while Valerie is a high-powered businesswoman who prefers city life. They’re complete opposites in every way. Yet David keeps insisting she and Colby are a perfect couple. Meanwhile, Stephanie has other worries besides her father’s health. She fled Orchard Valley three years earlier, after her humiliating rejection by local journalist Charles Tomaselli. Now she’s home, and it’s not long before they begin reliving past battles—and renewing old feelings. He was the reason she left. This time, will he give her a reason to stay? David seems to think so… Norah is feeling a bit unneeded these days. Her father is recovering, and her sisters are busy planning their weddings. But then a cantankerous Texan named Rowdy Cassidy crashes his small plane in Orchard Valley. The same Rowdy Cassidy who’d been Valerie’s boss…and who’d demanded Valerie marry him. Now he’s Norah’s patient, and in all her nursing experience she’s never encountered a more difficult man. Or a more irresistible one! Except…is he still in love with her sister?When Norah’s friend Sherry Waterman leaves Orchard Valley, Oregon, for Pepper, Texas, she’s definitely not in the mood for Lone Star Lovin’. But if anyone can change her mind, it’s Cody Bailman—a hardworking, good-looking rancher. Not only that, Cody has a twelve-year-old daughter who thinks Sherry’s “just perfect for Dad!”

    Ten years later, they’re all billionaires, but they’re still alone. Follow the three men through their journeys to find true love as they each find their perfect bride.Steven: When the younger sister of a woman he used to date shows up at his house with a child she claims is his, he convinces her they’d be better off living with him than simply taking child support from him. He finds himself wildly attracted to the new “nanny” and sets out to win her heart.Justin: When a relatively new employee comes to his office to talk about some trouble in the Human Resources department, Justin feels such a strong physical attraction to her, he’s ready to throw all his beliefs about dating a subordinate out the window. Sarah takes one look at Justin, and knows she wants nothing more than to be his. Will they be able to get past the fact they work closely together and make the relationship work?Cody: After being rear-ended by a beautiful woman on his way home from the Super Bowl, Cody realizes he’s found the only woman in the world who is just right for him. How could he possibly have fallen for the only woman in the world so independent that his billions are a liability?

    On his way home to Texas and their family’s cattle ranch, he stops to investigate a single-vehicle accident. The driver is missing, the SUV abandoned and a search into nearby woods brings him closer to a woman he tried to forget. Are you ready for more exciting suspense featuring Aiden of the Quinn family from USA TODAY Bestselling Author Barb Han?

    She hears planes flying overhead. A flyer warning of an impending assault by American bombers lands near her, but she is blind and cannot read it.Chapter 4Private Werner Pfennig wakes in the Hotel of Bees where his unit is billeted in Saint-Malo. A corporal orders him to go to the cellar. The hotel once was a privateer’s lair. It is fortress-like and houses an antiaircraft gun manned by a crew of Austrians.Chapter 5The townspeople who have not evacuated awake to the noise of guns and planes amid the shower of leaflets. In a fortress, the last German bastion on the Breton coast, French prisoners peer up at the sky. Other sieges have rocked the city of Saint-Malo over the centuries, but none like this...  About the Author With Instaread Summaries, you can get the summary of a book in 30 minutes or less. We read every chapter, summarize and analyze it for your convenience.

    Merwin --Magic barrel / Bernard Malamud --About marriage / Denise Levertov --from Jane Austen / Virginia Woolf --Princess and the tin box / James Thurber.

    King. Do not let the lack of light stop you from discovering more adventures and stories that will keep you up at night and ignite the imagination. There is no place to hide in, THE DARKNESS!

    And It’s Not Happening Inside a Courtroom. Lawyers come in all shapes and sizes, male and female, brilliant and dim. Michael Gresham is a Chicago lawyer who is quietly—and sometimes not so quietly—going about his business, defending his criminal clients, and providing for his wife and children. When a new client walks in, the lawyer must have the upper hand in all dealings and the client must allow the lawyer to run the show. To do otherwise is to risk jail or worse for the clients of Michael Gresham. But without warning, a client turns on him. Without warning, Michael’s world is turned on its head one life at a time. Michael, being Michael, fights back. A trial takes over and the book begins a runaway contest with a runaway jury that neither the judge nor the lawyers can control. When it is over, the last man standing will walk away with his life and his world and the other will lose it all. The pawns are Michael’s wife and children—his everything. In the end Michael must face his own demons and try to lay hold of the person he is ultimately meant to be: the lawyer who roared.

    FROM A GLOBALLY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR WHO HAS SOLD OVER 1.5 MILLION BOOKS. YOU GET THREE ENTHRALLING MYSTERIES IN THIS BOX SET BOOK 1: CRIME ON THE FENS The town is being terrorised by gangs of violent thugs, all wearing identical hideous masks. Then a talented young female student goes missing on the marsh and Nikki and Joseph find themselves joining forces with a master criminal in their efforts to save her. They need to look behind the masks, but when they do, they find something more sinister and deadly than they ever expected . . . BOOK 2: SHADOW OVER THE FENS A man is found executed on a piece of wasteland in Greenborough town. The cold-blooded murder triggers terrible memories for Detective Joseph Easter. Just when things seemed to be going well for DS Easter, he realises that the nightmare is coming back, threatening his career, his sanity, and maybe his life. In a breath-taking conclusion even Nikki begins to doubt DS Easter as he faces a race against time to save someone very close to him. BOOK 3: HUNTED ON THE FENS A vicious criminal is targeting Detective Nikki Galena and her team. One by one he will hunt them down and destroy their lives, unless she can stop him first. DI Nikki Galena faces her toughest challenge yet. Can she save her team and herself from a cruel and determined adversary who will stop at nothing to harm Nikki and her colleagues? First she must work out who wants revenge against her or one of her detectives. Full of twists and turns, this is a crime novel that will have you turning the pages until the stunning ending. Perfect for fans of Rachel Abbott, Robert Bryndza, Mel Sherratt, Angela Marsons, Colin Dexter, or Ruth Rendell. DISCOVER ONE OF THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE DETECTIVES THE DETECTIVE DI Nikki Galena: A police detective with nothing left to lose, she’s seen a girl die in her arms, and her daughter will never leave the hospital again. She’s got tough on the criminals she believes did this to her. HER PARTNER DS Joseph Easter is the squeaky-clean new member of the team. But his nickname “Holy Joe” belies his former life as a soldier. He has an estranged daughter who blames him for everything that went wrong with their family. THE SETTING The Lincolnshire Fens: great open skies brood over marshes, farmland, and nature reserves. It is not easy terrain for the Fenland Constabulary to police, due to the distances between some of the remote Fen villages, the dangerous and often misty lanes, and the poor telephone coverage. There are still villages where the oldest residents have never set foot outside their own farmland and a visit to the nearest town is a major event. But it has a strange airy beauty to it, and above it all are the biggest skies you’ve ever seen.

     Amazon International #1 Bestseller! If you are a Minecraft fanatic, you would definitely want to know more about Steve and his life. Find the answers to all your questions and explore the life of Steve in his Diary. This diary written by Steve will help you uncover the many secrets and mysteries related to Steve's life. *** Read It FREE With Kindle Unlimited Or Prime Membership *** Don't have kindle? No worries! Read it on your PC, Mac, Tablet Or Smartphone! *** Download Your Copy Or Read It FREE With Kindle Unlimited Or Prime Membership *** Buy Diary of a Wimpy Steve for your young Minecrafters right now and get the FREE audiobook to start reading today before this outstanding 2-for-1 deal expires! -------- Tags: Kids books. minecraft, minecraft books,minecraft free, minecraft books for kids, minecraft games, minecraft xbox, minecraft tips, minecraft game, minecraft comics, minecraft story book

    But when a beautiful mage arrives to stand in as healer in the aftermath of near destruction of the pack, Mako is suddenly struck by the Hunger. When Robin comes to the Blackhawk Pack, the last thing she expects is the Beta of the pack to claim her as his mate, something she has no time for. Her mission is to find and exact revenge on the anti-mage who killed her grandmother. Robin and Mako fight their Hunger-fueled, primal attraction tooth and nail, while looking for answers and retribution in the midst of great danger for them and the pack. Will Mako succumb to the legendary Wolf's Hunger? And will Robin surrender to his mating call that’s becoming impossible to resist? **** From New York Time's Bestselling Author A.K. Michaels A Wolf’s Hunger is a series of standalone Shifter books each with a HEA and absolutely no cliffhangers. Full of passion, intrigue and Paranormal Romance. Jam packed full of suspense, romance, thrills and hot Shifters.