A young man is given a new start in life as a result of an impulsive action, beginning a journey that will take him to the far reaches of the known world to watch - and sometimes to partake in - the rise and fall of mighty empires.

    

    On the frontier of the Roman Empire, a Dacian man named Verus is captured and enslaved during an imperial raid north of the Danube. He is sent to a rock quarry known as The Pit, as one among thousands of fresh slaves needed to mine marble for Emperor Vespasian’s new amphitheatre. Funded by spoils taken during the Siege of Jerusalem, the Emperor promises it will be the largest gladiatorial arena ever; his personal gift to the people of Rome. Requiring years of herculean labour and millions of cubic feet in stone, Vespasian’s son, Titus, worries whether his father will live to see its completion. After months of back-breaking suffering and toil, Verus is taken from The Pit to become a gladiator. Whether by chance or fate, he knows that only by making a pact with death will he have a chance at life. In a savage world of blood, sweat, sand, and steel, his very soul is forged, until he no longer remembers the man he once was. As the Flavian Amphitheatre nears completion, with the possibility of fighting before the Emperor himself, Verus swears to either win his cherished freedom, or ignominiously die by the blade.

    

    Three women’s lives are about to change forever... Rachel Patten is an undoubted beauty, yet the only man she wants is the one who rejects her. But then rebellion takes her across strict class boundaries into the arms of her gamekeeper, Gideon Best…Daphne Underscar - plain, gauche, but far from stupid - knows full well that the ambitious Toby Smith married her for money. With love, and with courage, she is prepared to gamble her own happiness on the hope of a more fulfilling relationship. Meanwhile Philippa Van Damme has led a sheltered life, her childhood severed abruptly by a wrenching bereavement. Thrust headlong into an unstable post-war world, her hopes of a future with Hugo Fellafield are dashed by familial discord, and the threat of political scandal. From industrial London to the tropical landscape of Madeira, Green and Pleasant Land follows the three women in a triumphant sequel to Tomorrow, Jerusalem. Perfect for fans of Julia Quinn and Victoria Hislop.

    I will wage war against these Christians, and I will emerge victorious. My name is Saul."St. Paul the Apostle is a towering biblical figure, but almost nothing is known about his early life as Saul of Tarsus.As death loomed over him at Mamertine Prison in Rome, under the watchful eye of his jailer and final follower Aurelius, he wrote: I will die tomorrow. In the morning, around sunrise.There are two things for which I am eminently grateful: That I have been permitted to have fought the good fight and finished the race marked out for me; and that I will not have to endure another winter in this place.Starting from that pivotal moment, blending historical fact with audacious creativity, the author of the award-winning I, Claudia propels us back through the life of the man who would become St. Paul. Her vividly imagined, well-founded tale of loss, transformation, and divine intervention will captivate believers and non-believers alike who yearn for the human truth and drama behind the scriptures. "I am convinced that Saul is a man for our times," explains Wilder, "primarily because he was interested in just one thing: truth."

    All that time she never forgot her first love. Now her husband is dead and she must mourn for a year. Sad and lonely she hopes to retire to the dower house, even though she is only 30. Maybe she will have some peace and yet the new duke will not hear of it. Why does he look at her so? Kent Sheridan, the Earl of Wimborne has golden hair and rich brown eyes and he has never married. Knowing that the woman of his dreams is now free is a delicious form of torture. How he wishes to ride over and see her, to sweep her off her feet but etiquette says he cannot. Claudette finds herself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. One day danger finds her in her once peaceful home. Will she escape the wrong duke? Can Kent find the love he longs for? Find out in this sweet, and clean Regency romance by bestselling author Charlotte Darcy.

    At first taking their cue from the previous struggle of the then fledgling United States, the rebellion soon degenerated. The initial violence began to feed upon itself and bloody revolution spread across all of France. Surprisingly, the struggle spread into neighboring countries. Early in 1793, Great Britain and Republican France went to war. This lasted, with a pair of short interruptions, until 1815. For much of this war, Britain strained at every seam to prevent French forces from crossing the Channel. For much of the war, the Royal Navy was the bulwark that prevented invasion, just as it did a century and a half in the future. Our fictional Royal Naval officer in this book is representative of those larger than life figures that saved the British Isles from conquest.

    Times-News, January 4, 1918Seeing something of himself in a struggling teenage boy, an old man faces one final challenge--and an opportunity to bring closure to a secret past.Spanning nearly nine decades, from the mountains of western Virginia, to a riverside mill town, to a farm in the Piedmont, this is the story of lives marked by tragedy, resilience, and, ultimately, the discovery of purpose and belonging.Inspired by a true story.

     The Secret Sense of Wildflower: Named a Best Book of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews. Over 250 reviews! Small southern towns have few secrets. But when a grieving daughter confronts the local bad boy, she exposes a dark history. Appalachia, 1941. Thirteen-year-old Louisa May "Wildflower" McAllister's heart still aches for her father. A year after her dad's tragic sawmill accident, she relies on her strength of spirit and her heightened intuition to deal with a critical mother and cope with the aftermath.But when she's targeted by the town's teenage bully, she may need more than her "secret sense" to survive.Despite these hardships, Wildflower has a resilience that is forged with humor, a love of the land, and an endless supply of questions to God. But after an affront to her father's memory, she lets her anger get the better of her and unwittingly triggers a series of traumatic events that will change her life forever.Will Wildflower fall to another tragedy or will her faith in her family and herself be enough to carry her through?With prose as lush and colorful as the American south, The Secret Sense of Wildflower is powerful and poignant, brimming with energy and angst, humor and hope. Lily’s Song: A mother’s secrets, a daughter’s dream, and a family’s loyalty are masterfully interwoven in this much anticipated sequel to Amazon #1 bestseller The Secret Sense of Wildflower. “Wildflower” McAllister’s daughter, Lily, now 14, struggles with her mother’s reluctance to tell her who her father is. When a stranger appears on the family doorstep, drunk and evoking ghosts from the past, it threatens to break the close-knit McAllister family apart.Meanwhile, Wildflower has a deep secret of her own. When Lily discovers it by accident, it changes everything she thought she knew about her mother. The events that follow silence the singing she dreamed of sharing with the world.With her signature metaphors, Gabriel weaves a compelling tale that captures the resilience and strength of both mother and daughter, as secrets revealed test their strong bond and ultimately change their lives forever.Set in 1956 southern Appalachia, Lily’s Song stands on its own, and readers who are new to Gabriel will be drawn into the world she so skillfully depicts. As a sequel, it will captivate fans of The Secret Sense of Wildflower (a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012), who have eagerly awaited more. Daisy’s Fortune: She must return to the place that twice brought her shame. She’ll have one final chance to save someone else. Tennessee, 1982. Wildflower McAllister thought she’d put the past behind her. But when she learns her mother is dying, she digs deep and returns to the small mountain town that stole her innocence and cast her out. And she has no choice but to pull her thirteen-year-old granddaughter Daisy right back into the ghosts of her painful history.As her mother passes, Wildflower’s grief turns to despair when Daisy’s fortune is read, predicting a dark future and the return of sinister threats. With her granddaughter keeping a terrible secret, Wildflower’s distress forces her to call upon the community that rejected her to prevent another tragedy from playing out in front of her eyes.

    

     Daphne Villiers, student nurse, is still suffering from the heartbreak of losing her fiancé two years earlier. A new arrival to the East End has the potential to brighten her spirits and turn her life around, but will she be able to let herself love again? With the help of her friends, Daphne might find that Easter really is the time for new beginnings.

    Along the way, however, Miriam boards the wrong train . . . Ann Abelson's novella begins a family saga based on actual events.

    Both of them were assigned to the 3rd Marine Division in Vietnam. Both of them humped with the grunts, ate the same chow, suffered the same hardships, and shared the same risks. Marowski led marines into harm’s way and King kept them alive when there was more harm than way. They were also friends and family. Terry King was married to Marowski’s kid sister. In July of 1967, Marowski was made commander of First Platoon, Delta Company, 1/9 at Con Thien, and Terry King became senior squid for Charlie Company, 1/9 at Dong Ha. Both King and Marowski were experienced combat veterans, confident in their own abilities, but confidence and skill weren’t always enough on the DMZ. The 1/9 was about to be tested in ways few Marine Battalions have ever been tested, in ways few marines or corpsmen were ever tested.

    Her heart races whenever the handsome nobleman is near, but his overbearing wife is constantly playing the matchmaker with their foppish son. Kate and Christopher try to resist the temptation of their mutual attraction while striving to solve a perplexing mystery: who wanted the Lancasters dead- and why? Set in 18th century England, this historical mystery is laden with romantic tension and will keep readers guessing until the dramatic end.