It also inspired us to come out with a delightful article, the ‘Indian Masketeers’, exploring Indian culture through its various masks. We also have ‘Dotty and the Albino Dragon’, the First Prize winning story in the Tinkle Original Story Competition. Moving on, we have three popular characters this issue, Shikari Shambu, Kalia the Crow and the Defective Detectives. Shambu goes on a rollicking ‘Jumbo Adventure in Assam’ while the Defective Detectives have a spine-chilling experience in ‘The Horror’. As for Kalia, can you imagine him, Chamataka and Doob Doob playing together? If you can’t, you should check out ‘Let’s Play a Game’. Next, enjoy a fun story by a reader, ‘Show Business’ in our Fan Fiction segment along with ‘Pranav’s Dadi and the Karate Kid’, where Dadi tries her hand at karate! And to wrap it up we have two diverse stories about two brave men who refused to give up. So check out ‘A Mighty Will’ and ‘No Crazy Ideas’. Enjoy!

    The work was back-breakingly hard, but the Tate & Lyle factory was more than just a workplace - it was a community, a calling, a place of love and support and an uproarious, tribal part of East London. This is Ethel’s story, one of four stories from The Sugar Girls.‘On an autumn day in 1944, Ethel Alleyne walked the short distance from her house to Tate & Lyle’s refinery on the shining curve of the Thames. Looking up at the giant gates, Ethel felt like she had been preparing for this moment all her life. She smoothed down her frizzy hair, scraped a bit of dirt off the corner of her shoe and strode through.She was quite unprepared for the sight that met her eyes …’In the years leading up to and after the Second World War thousands of women left school at fourteen to work in the bustling factories of London’s East End. Despite long hours, hard and often hazardous work, factory life afforded exciting opportunities for independence, friendship and romance. Of all the factories that lined the docks, it was at Tate and Lyle’s where you could earn the most generous wages and enjoy the best social life, and it was here where The Sugar Girls worked.This is an evocative, moving story of hunger, hardship and happiness, providing a moving insight into a lost way of life, as well as a timeless testament to the experience of being young and female.

    Biography

    Feisty heroines. Sweet, swoon-worthy stories.5 full-length standalones in one complete set.Everything I NeedCharley Meadows has lost nearly everything she loves. Needing to calm her mind and get away from the heartache, Charley abandons the place she’s always called home. 

But she never expected to have her newfound peace disrupted by Wes Blackman. 

Snowboarder extraordinaire turned business owner, Wes has been putting in hours to keep his company as the industry leader in snowboard production. With a board launch on the horizon, Wes finds himself back on the mountain. 

What he hadn't expected to find was a mysterious girl with a battered heart. 

Charley is afraid to take a risk and open her heart, knowing tragedy may strike again. 

Wes wants the opportunity to prove that no matter what happens, he'll always be there to pick up the pieces.Everything I HaveEmme James lives in darkness. 



Ever since her abusive relationship ended in heartbreaking tragedy, she's kept herself secluded to protect herself and those she loves. Unfortunately, Emme's plans to remain unattached fall apart the moment Zane Cunningham sets his sights on her. 

A professional snowboarder at the top of his game, Zane does not need a distraction. But when Emme walks into his life, he can't fight the pull he feels toward her and will take her any way he can get her. 

Emme struggles to resist Zane's persistent efforts to turn their friendship into something more and finally gives into the attraction between them. 

But just as Zane brings light and laughter into Emme's life, her trouble finally catches up to her. Zane promises he'll keep her safe, no matter the cost. 

Because he knows that if he can't, Emme may be lost in darkness forever.Everything I WantWhen starry-eyed dancer, Monroe Archer, met professional snowboarder Xander Stone, she believed she'd found the man of her dreams. Searching for her fairytale romance since she was a little girl, Monroe goes after what she wants. 



Stone is a grief-stricken man. At a young age, he learned that forever doesn't exist. Ever since, he's been a tortured soul just going through the motions. 


Monroe is devastated to learn that Stone wants nothing more than friendship. But just as she tries to move on, he realizes his attraction to her isn’t so easily denied. Powerless to resist her any longer, Stone starts something with Monroe knowing he is incapable of giving her forever. 



With her sweet and charming disposition, Monroe sets out to heal the wounds left on the heart of the man she loves. But it isn't long before Monroe realizes that sometimes those that love you most are the ones that hurt you the worst. Everything I LoveNikki Drake was just a little girl when she experienced her first heartbreak. Many years and several betrayals later, she's learned that life is what you make of it. Though she’s been resilient in the face of her past, it has affected one small part of her. 

Nikki refuses to give her heart to anyone ever again. 



Luke Townsend is a man most women dream about. Underneath his tall, handsome exterior, he's charming, compassionate, sensitive, and loyal. A dedicated snowboarder, Luke knows what it means to work hard for what he wants. And what Luke wants is Nikki. 


After sharing his feelings and being rejected, Luke walks away, vowing to find a way to win her heart. 

But once Nikki finally hands her heart over to him, Luke shatters her world with the truth.Everything I GiveTis the season…Life over the last ten years for the Blackman Boards crew has been better than any of the couples could have imagined. But with the holidays approaching, the women are struggling to get through the madness of Christmas plays, cookie baking, wish lists, tree shopping, and decorating while the men are desperate to soak up every ounce of affection they can get from their wives before the kids are officially on winter break.To top it off, everyone needs to do a little Christmas shopping. It’s anyone’s guess who’s going to win the award for the best gift this year. But when the big day arrives, it’s clear to see that the bonds of friendship and family are what matter the most and have given everyone a Christmas to remember.

    A happy ending is always the goal when you meet the person you love but is that always the case? When love meets war, relationships are tested and attitudes clash. Find out if the couples will have their happily ever after in this sizzling finale!

    But behind the closed doors was a story of drugs, orgies, physical and sexual assault, and constant fear...Book voyeurs who are able to tackle tough subject matter will love this tale." --Kim Cantrell True Crime Book Reviews~~~~~~~~~~BESTSELLING, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, SHERRIE LUEDER'S GRIPPING TRUE STORY OF A SON AND DAUGHTER'S PAINFUL MEMORIES AND FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL WHILE GROWING UP IN AN ABUSIVE HOME IN THE SUBURBS OF DENVER--THEIR OWN INVESTIGATION INTO THEIR MOTHER'S MYSTERIOUS DEATH--AND RELENTLESS QUEST FOR JUSTICE. This book is the first to explore the mysterious death of Janyce "Janny" Hansen, a former top model from Denver, Colorado. She, along with her husband and children, live in an upscale home in the suburbs. The community sees an affluent, glamorous family. The reality is far different. An abused wife who can't let go. A husband who beats and sexually assaults his adopted children--while running gambling and prostitution businesses from their home. In the early morning hours of September 21, 1984, her husband returns home to discover her lifeless body in his Mercedes convertible parked in the garage--or so he says. Her family is led to believe she committed suicide. Now, 25 years later, her son and daughter set out to prove their mother was killed by her husband, a successful real estate developer rumored to have strong ties to city officials and underworld crime. Many believe the investigation into Janny's death was a cover-up--starting with the coroner's office--and that her husband got away with murder. As their investigation continues, they are led to believe their suspicions are true. Especially, since evidence increases almost daily and points to only one killer--Janny's husband.

     A secret cargo is headed for Japan. The Japanese High Command has entrusted it to a veteran destroyer captain - the best in the Imperial Navy - and he will stop at nothing to see that it reaches its final destination... Carrier-based dive bombers could not stop it, nor could the guerilla-commandos of the Philippine Islands. Now, the submarine Wolffish is the last ditch hope of the Allied Command. Still shaken by a recent tragedy, and desperately low on fuel, torpedoes, and morale, the war-weary submarine and her eighty-man crew must pull together to track down and destroy the cargo before it reaches Japan, and changes the course of the war...

    Joining forces, their group heads toward Walter’s cabin and the promise of a new life. But mother nature has other plans. When your life is in danger, can you summon the courage to fight? Madison and Tracy think they’re safe at a cabin in woods. But a chance meeting with a stranger reveals how vulnerable they really are. Faced with an unpredictable threat, the pair must defend their new home, even when the odds are stacked against them. The end of the world brings out the best and worst in all of us. Dangerous wild animals, hidden traps on the road, and violent strangers combine to push everyone to the limit. If Walter and Colt can’t make it back home in time, Madison and Tracy might not survive. It’s a battle against nature and man that only the strong will survive. The EMP is only the beginning. The Hope Trilogy comprises books seven through nine in the After the EMP series, a post-apocalyptic thriller series following ordinary people trying to survive after a geomagnetic storm destroys the nation’s power grid.

    Manish Chawla is too selfish to be bothered about his wife’s happiness. It’s watching her sister’s closeness to her new husband that actually opens Saloni’s eyes to the lack in her life. Aarav Chopra hasn’t looked at another woman since he fell in love with the seventeen-year-old Saloni. The nine years in-between seem to disappear when he sets eyes on her again at her sister’s wedding. But this time round, his love stretches to include her son too, as Mitesh holds not just Aarav’s finger but also his heart in his little hand. Things come to a head when she flees Chicago to return to Delhi along with her baby son Mitesh.Life throws Saloni and Aarav together as she goes to work in his group of companies while awaiting her divorce. The attraction is as powerful as ever! But Saloni is absolutely clear that she wouldn’t be tied to a man ever again. Will Aarav be able to convince her otherwise?

    The Raggers have come and they’re the dregs of the universe, as the Unity League is about to find out. An unprovoked Ragger incendiary attack on the human city of Satra kills millions. Not everyone dies. Lieutenant Tanner Conway and a few of his squad survive the flames, as does Captain Jake Griffin, his spaceship Star Burner brought down by enemy fire. The survivors want payback, but it’s hard to beat an alien attack fleet when you’re stuck in the middle of a burning city. The Ragger spaceships are still in orbit and threaten the rest of the planet with the same fate. Someone has to stop them. The Star Burner has a massive nuke in its hold. Conway and Griffin think they can put the bomb to good use, but the spaceship won’t fly and the enemy have their own interest in the wreckage. A plan to bring the bomb to the aliens has unintended consequences and far-reaching effects. The fight will take Conway and Griffin from the ruined city to a spaceship with capabilities beyond reckoning. They will face unimaginable horrors and a foe that has no regard for life. Every contest has a prize and this one is no different. Victory against the Ragger fleet will save billions from death and set back the enemy’s ambitions in this part of the Unity League’s territory. It’s going to take skill, guts and a lot of dead aliens before it happens. Alien Firestorm is a fast-paced military sci-fi shooter filled with guns, tech and warfare. It follows on from book 1 in the Fire and Rust Series: Iron Dogs.

    But what the two of them discover is a secret that has been hidden from them their whole lives, a secret that once discovered changes both of them forever.The Last Patient is a story about regret, truth, and redemption.David Johnson, author of the best-selling Tucker series and The Woodcutter’s Wife brings us another of his trademark “books with heart.” The Last Patient is a book that will leave you thinking long after you’ve finished reading it.

    Entertainment Weekly Magazine presents Outlander.

    He never expected to hear from her again, and he certainly never expected to hear from her brother. So when Lacklan receives a text message claiming to be from Charlie Vazquez, saying that he is in New York, that his life is in danger and that he needs help, Lacklan is intrigued, to say the least.But when Lacklan gets to New York, the mystery only deepens - and the more he investigates, the deeper it gets. Charlie has vanished without a trace, and so have his closest friends: Zack the mathematical genius whose brain works with the speed of a computer, Bran whose memory is beyond photographic, and Hans and Hattie, whose powers of empathy and analysis seem almost supernatural.Who are they? Where have they gone? And what have they done with Charlie Vazquez…?And then again, who is Dr Olga Lucia Salcedo - The extraordinarily beautiful lecturer at Columbia university, whose relationship with Charlie seems to have been more than just mere mentoring…?

    Monsarrat follows the great captains and naval adventurers from the Artic to the South Pacific. Lawe represents the spirit of maritime exploration and fortitude; his life is the thread stringing together a long history of nautical adventure.He finds himself mixed up with Drake and the Armada; sailing with Hudson in search of the North-West passage; a buccaneer under Sir Henry Morgan in the Caribbean; assisting Samuel Pepys with his responsibilities as Secretary to the Navy; at the side of Captain Cook as he transports General Wolf to the storming of Quebec, and then on to his death in the Pacific; serving in Nelson’s household and then to the Nile, Naples and Trafalgar; working on a slaver from Liverpool to the Caribbean; press-ganged aboard the Shannon just before her duel with the American Chesapeake, exploring the Artic with Sir John Franklin; fighting in both world wars, including the action at Zebrugge and ‘D’ Day; before a final test with a tanker catching fire after the opening of the St.Lawrence Seaway – and much more besides!Under sail and steam, as Mathew’s eternal existence progresses, the action-packed novel is both highly entertaining and instructive and has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece. Some fourteen true maps, along with other diagrams, are included, and what was originally two volumes is supplied as one. ‘… this huge, action packed volume can be recommended to anyone’ – Sunday Times‘He has never written anything to compare with this work – it is a masterstroke’ – Manchester Evening News‘No one can bring alive the cruel sea and the valiant men who have sailed on it through all the generations like Monsarrat’ – Daily Mail‘This is Monsarrat, master storyteller, running proud’ – The ScotsmanNote: Nicholas Monsarrat died before Book II was finished. Anne Monsarrat completed the remainder of the story in Nicholas's own words, partly from some working notes he left and partly from his original synopsis of The Master Mariner Book II. Both are included here.