I felt a real affinity with the characters and hope to one day see this book as a motion picture." Harrison Ford, actor Alex Cord novel is ablaze with passion Alex Cord has starred in more than 30 movies and 300 television shows, often portraying men of grit and toughness. As a boy, he was stricken with polio and confined to a hospital. As a young man, he made a living as a professional bull rider on the rodeo circuit, once landing in a pile of broken bones that led to another lengthy stay in a hospital. Nothing, however, could prepare him to deal with the tragic loss of his son Damien Zachary. "I went into a major depression," explains Cord. "Nothing in my life seemed to have any value, any purpose." He says he pulled the covers over his head, both literally and figuratively, unable to deal with the heartache. "I came to understand the weight of the phrase, ...died of a broken heart." He dragged himself out of bed one day, determined to write down his memories of Zach. But what began as a cathartic writing exercise soon blossomed into full-blown novel, A Feather in the Rain. The story begins by telling of Jesse Burrell, a Texas rancher and horseman who had buried his son. Disconsolate, Jesse's love and lust for life went fallow. Determined to never again experience the heartache of loss, this trail-hardened cowboy chose a self-imposed lonely and celibate existence. With great effort, he managed to struggle through the motions of his life, running a ranch and occasionally winning awards in cutting horse competitions (although the ultimate dream of a Futurity championship eluded him.) That was how his life was, and that was how it seemed destined to remain. Then through a chance encounter, he meets a beautiful young woman, her own heart shattered by the death of her brother. They immediately see in each other a kindred spirit. Their explosive love affair will set readers' hearts ablaze with empathy and passion. "Of course, I know where the initial idea for the story came from," confesses Cord, "but a lot of it? Well, the story just took on a life of its own." Cord is a private man, not given to explaining where the line is that divides fiction from fact in his latest book. A Feather in the Rain is Cord's second novel. The first-Sandsong-was published by Warner Books and has been optioned for a feature film production. He has also written and sold three screenplays. Ernest Borgnine, Academy Award-winning actor, says of A Feather in the Rain, "Alex has written one of the finest love stories I’ve ever read."

    Not only must she deal with the thrills and spills of life as a hardworking single mum, but also the imminent return of singer-songwriter Ariel Swan, Dave's one true love.Poor Janice. Dave is still the love of her life.Ariel Swan returns to small town life - and Dave's heart. She and her friend Melodie (whose ambition is to be "a celebrity") enter a TV talent competition, so Dave and the rest of Thor decide to make the most of the opportunity for possible fame and fortune, too. This adventure brings about big changes in the lives of all of them - none of which Dave could have anticipated.One member of Thor even ends up on The Jeremy Kyle Show...

    But missing him is soon replaced with the challenges and surprises right in front of her. What is her mother hiding? Why has her grandfather disappeared from their lives? Unraveling the mysteries brings about unexpected discoveries and connections, ultimately leading her to know herself and understand what matters most.

    Six ambitious vice presidents of Labouchere Associates are gathered together at an isolated mountain lodge in New Hampshire’s White Mountains for a weekend of corporate mind games. By Monday, one of them will become a Partner and earn at least a million a year. And one of them will be dead. The Partnership Track is a novella of about 20,000 words or 70 pages, with a fiendish twist. It will take less than two hours to read.

    She taught her family how to read Scott’s medical chart and to ask pointed questions, no longer leaving his care to the medical professionals who had overdosed him with drugs to the very brink of death in less than three days.“Jo, you have to tell people what they’ve done to me. You have to tell them!”pleaded her little brother, as he lay writhing in agony.In “For the Love of Scott!”, the author recollects her family’s poignant story of love, bewilderment, and lingering frustration when faced with catastrophic medical mistakes. Read the experiences of Scott Hamilton’s family members as they struggle through a storm of horrific medical errors that could have been prevented and recognize what you need to do when someone you love is faced with life-threatening circumstances created by health experts.It took Jo 27 years to put this heartbreaking event down on paper. Writing opened old wounds and required hours of research and documentation. It forced her family to relive a chapter in their own lives that they desperately wanted closed. Yet, they rallied together to help Jo with her mission to keep that promise.To help further her goals, Jo Hamilton will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her book, to the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Scott Hamilton's foundation, The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative. The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative was created to help with cancer research, support cancer patients and their families, and find a cure cancer.

    Dead husbands. Unfinished business.When did deception and disappearance suddenly become so fashionable?When Lori Walker discovers her husband's death wasn't an accident her darkest fears come true: the man she married was her greatest love and her biggest mistake.Lori is thrown a lifeline when she forms a tight friendship with other widows who share their own stories highlighted with humour, heartache and mysteries. Questions are raised, answers are challenged and trust falls to pieces. Emotional drama with suspense and intrigue, Four Widows explores the intricacies of love—its greatness and its acute complications.

    Sure, she’s leaving behind an office that doesn’t seem to be able to run without her, and Mia has invited a bunch of her narcissistic friends along to join them, but a holiday is a holiday, right? Wrong. Pickpocketed on her first night and separated from everyone, Chloe soon finds herself stranded in the back streets of Bangkok. Fortunately, her saviour arrives in the form of charismatic perfumer Daniel Richards, whose Scottish accent and amiable nature immediately put her at ease. With Daniel’s help, Chloe is soon back on the metaphorical horse. But with several more unfortunate events befalling her over the following days, she is forced to rely on Daniel again and again to help bail her out. Throw in a jealous absentee boyfriend, a wild neighbour with the propensity to meddle, and a strangely aggressive staff member at Daniel’s perfumery, and Chloe finds herself on the trip of a lifetime. It’s not quite the one she was expecting, but it might just be the shake-up she needs.

    Then the science teacher partners him for a project with Messy Jessie, an outcast and object of ridicule by the students because of the frumpy clothing she wears and her timid nature. He soon learns that people are not always what they appear to be on the surface and his world goes out of control. Will he discover what matters most in life in time to make the difficult decisions he will face?

     Drew in Blue is the story of a thirty-six year old loner unexpectedly saddled with the task of raising a baby while trying to sort out his mess of a life. Problem is, he just keeps making things worse for himself. It's a running theme in Drew's life, considering he never does anything the easy way. The River's View, Pennsylvania gossip mill is watching each misstep as Drew juggles a price-gouging babysitter, a major case of artist's block, and a best friend with an opinion to share on every bungled choice he makes. His love life isn't faring much better. Despite a long history of relationships that never really get off the ground, he falls head over heels for someone new, hoping that she might be the one to end his romantic bad luck streak. Things finally start looking up for Drew, until he finds out (the hard way, naturally) that this new love interest isn't the one for him after all. Turns out, it's actually lifelong pal, and high school girlfriend, Kristina Moser. Drew's feelings for Kris intensify as he witnesses her growing bond with his son, and he finally realizes where he belongs. Now all he has to do is convince Kris he's right ... and she's just not buying it.

    Stunned by the revelation of her husband's affair, Pat is even more shocked when the woman bolts from the office, leaving young Tommy behind.When Tommy's mother is murdered, police tell Pat that the boy may be the killer's next target. In a desperate race to protect Tommy, Pat's searches for the truth and uncovers a deadly scheme involving illegal immigrants, trafficking in human body parts and money laundering.And Pat discovers that she'll do just about anything to keep her family safe.

    Both married and with children of their own, they settle down comfortably to follow life's script - until Sarah's husband suddenly leaves her. Unable to bear the shame and humiliation, the once solid friendship bends under the strain and Sarah leaves her hometown to move to London, where she hopes to find herself. Years later, Sarah returns with a mysterious friend in tow. And just in time it seems - as Laura is about to go through a private hell of her own...a hell that's going to test her marriage, her friendship, and her inner strength in ways that she never imagined.

    But when Richard Colman adopts his dead sister's daughter, he has no idea how tough life can be.Richard's girlfriend walks out. His business starts losing clients. And there's something terribly wrong with the little girl.Her name is Bernadette, but Richard calls her "Barney". It's a word his own father used to use... a barney, a row, a terrible racket. And Barney is well-named – she never stops screaming. She hammers her head on the floor and the walls. She's adorable, but she doesn't sleep. She cannot talk. She won't even respond to her name.Richard slowly faces the unbearable truth that his little girl is profoundly autistic. And as he prepares for a battle simply to be allowed to keep his child, he's only beginning to find out how tough life can be. Christopher Stevens, the bestselling author of A REAL BOY, draws on painful and intensely personal experiences of raising his own autistic child, to create this compelling story of a single parent who must come to terms with his beloved little girl's autism.AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a novel. The characters are fictional, though they are very real to me. Many of the events in the story did really happen to my family, following the diagnosis of my younger son with autism. I later wrote a memoir about this intensely emotional and exhausting experience: it was published as A REAL BOY. If you have read this memoir, you might recognise some of the scenes and situations in A GIRL CALLED BARNEY – and if you want to read a strictly factual account, the memoir will better suit your needs. A GIRL CALLED BARNEY is more dramatic, more tragic and less humorous than the later, non-fiction book. I used the novel to express the darker, more frightening emotions that, in real life, we hardly dare admit that we feel.Praise for A REAL BOY, Christopher Stevens's factual account of raising his autistic son:Jane Asher, President of the National Autistic Society"This wonderfully honest book tells us a great deal, not only about autism, but also about the extraordinary tolerance and unselfishness that is borne out of unequivocal love. At the same time, it reveals some uncomfortable truths about the struggle it takes to access the rights of those with disabilities in our so-called civilized society."The Sun, 15 Feb 08"incredibly moving"Daily Mail, February 26, 2008Christopher Stevens writes poignantly about life with his autistic son. It's a moving account of the boy's struggle to cope with a world that confuses him - and the extraordinary leap forward that gave them all hope.Bournemouth Daily Echo, 27th June 08By turns harrowing, humorous and inspirational.About the AuthorChristopher Stevens has been a senior sub-editor at the Observer for fourteen years and is also the author of Born Brilliant, the acclaimed biography of Kenneth Williams; Masters of Sitcom, a celebration of Galton and Simpson; and Thirty Days Has September, the bestselling reference book on Kindle.Born Brilliant was shortlisted for a "Sherry", the Sheridan Morley Theatre Biography Prize. It was adapted and broadcast as a Radio Four Book of the Week.

    The book gives a rare insight into the home life I shared with my brother Les (James Phelge). Why he called himself Phelge I don’t know, but James is my father’s name: We shared a common mother. The story starts in Edmonton, London. It is the story of heartbreak and neglect in the relentless struggle for food amidst the filth of poverty. What is it like for a small girl to starve? When she needs help, she is abandoned and left to struggle alone.

    JacksonSet on the stage of America's westward expansion, the story's theme is centered around the unique lives of two young boy's whose lives are picked clean of everything they know and love. The boys are left alone to travel the road from childhood to manhood with nothing but their friendship and their determination to survive.In the end they are two old men with the recklessness of youth still in their nature as they embark on one last mission, one grand adventure wherein, for at least that fleeting moment, they are able to recapture that point in time when we are all at our best.

    There she witnesses a testosterone-laden discussion and a much unexpected question, "Does anyone know who got Liz Gardner?" The sheer irony that she would be a topic of this world wide circle jerk on her one and only visit catapults her into a graphic and relentless exploration of her life's journey--with all the erotic, tragic, and hilarious affairs, lessons, and detours that inevitably led to the one "who got her." Did she make the same desperate mistakes as her mother, or worse? Was she destined to become her mother?Her journey takes her from Florida to New York to California with a spicy layover in Denver. She grows and evolves from dealings with divorced parents, abortion, love triangles, infidelity, confused intentions, homeless junkies, aliens, vegetarians, stalkers, past life lesbians, ghosts and angels. Oh, and men. Definitely men. Who Got Liz Gardner is a complete meal with flavors, textures and ingredients reminiscent of "50 Shades of Grey", and "Sex and the City" combined with a dash of "Fear of Flying". Readers who enjoy feasts of this caliber will want to indulge in this extraordinary repast and encourage others to take a taste! However, be warned - while some like it hot, this meal hits the top of the Scoville scale. Muy caliente!