When life throws you a curveball, sometimes you have to step back and re-evaluate your life. Jaxon got a scare of a lifetime and needed to learn how to relax. What's better for relaxing than taking a nice vacation? How about meeting the woman of your dreams? Danielle got her life uprooted because of her younger sister's foolish decision. Knowing that life can sidetrack you, she decided a tour of Europe would be an amazing way to get her mind back in order. So who knew that she would meet a man who would try to charm her panties off?

    At night, however, it transforms into a “floating world” of escapism, as “all-work” salarymen seek a place to play. Though fascinated by Japanese language and culture, American Lea Jacobson had some difficulty conforming to Japan’s rigidly structured society. After she was fired from her job as an English teacher, Lea found work as a nightclub hostess on Tokyo’s Ginza strip and transformed herself into a doll-like confection whose job it was to flatter, flirt, and engage in mock relationships with her middle-aged clients. Working as a hostess—the occupation a direct descendant of the geisha tradition—quickly became lucrative...and addictive.Her perceptions distorted by the drinks she was paid to consume, her identity confused by the fake personalities she assumed nightly, Jacobson began to lose herself in this fantasy culture.  As she descended into self-abuse and alcoholism, she found that the seductive lifestyle she loved so much seemed impossible to escape.Jacobson’s searing insights into Japan’s cultural dynamics, erotic fascinations, gender politics, and her own spiral into sensory excess create a haunting and mesmerizing memoir that will leave readers transfixed.

    As Stephanie Coulter discovers, sometimes you find it in the most ordinary places—and what could be more ordinary than the office? Stephanie, who works as an assistant at Lockwood Industries in Minneapolis, is temporarily assigned to the boss—Jonas Lockwood himself. Jonas lives up (or down!) to his reputation as a tyrant, dictator and grouch. But Stephanie's colleagues, romance readers all, decide that he's really the classic lonely hero. What he needs, they say, is Love 'n' Marriage. And the woman they have in mind for him is… Stephanie.Bethany Stone, on the other hand, is already in love with her boss, Joshua Norris, although their relationship is strictly business. But one day he asks for her help—outside the office. Joshua's ten-year-old daughter, Angie, is coming to live with him and he has no idea how to raise a precocious little girl. Angie might be Almost an Angel, but she quickly develops a matchmaking plan for her dad—and Bethany!

    Maybe aminivan. She never envisioned a stock car thrown into the mix!That was before she met Jake Hinson, recovering from a boatingaccident at a secluded fishing cabin. Fact is, Jake's a NASCARdriver with plenty of cash, fans--and fame. Not something he'sabout to divulge to publicity-shy Stacy. But when the truth comesout, Stacy's not sure she can handle a celebrity lifestyle--despiteJake's reassurances.Besides, Stacy hasn't exactly been the pinnacle of honesty herself.And it's just a matter of time before her own cover is blown....

    Married—and divorced!—in secret… Rust Creek Ramblings Rust Creek Falls’ flirty cowboy and the shy, straight-A student—a couple? We have it on good authority that not only were Derek Dalton and Amy Wainwright once an item, they were actually married! With Amy back in town for her friend’s wedding, how long before their secret past is revealed? Gather your rose petals, dear readers… We suspect these high school sweethearts may soon get a second chance at happily-wedded-after!

    I want your everything."Everyone expects Lady Helena to marry her way up the social ladder.Once scandal takes control, she’s forced to go against those wishes. After the accident that left her blind, she made a promise to herself; never marry for anything less than love. But she never expected the Duke of Hartwick to show up and steal her innocence…David Barrington, the Duke of Hartwick, lives in the shadows of his past. Tainted by criminal ways, his present is miserable and his future looks bleak. When a single slip-up gets him But involved with Helena, the one woman he never wanted to see again, he’s forced to confront his old ways in the boldest way possible.Refusing to even so much as touch each other, they soon find out that perhaps love and passion are more wicked than they thought. But fast they need to be because David’s criminal past is back. And this time, vengeance wants to sink its bloody teeth in the one thing that taught him to live again...

    . . Piper Jamieson needs a man. And not just any man. She needs someone to play her significant other when she heads home for her family reunion. Thanks to a self-imposed period of celibacy, she has no prospects. . .except for her sexy best friend, Josh Weber. Since there's nothing between them, kissing him will be a breeze, right? But he wanted her permanently! Spending an entire weekend with Piper sounds perfect to Josh. . .it's the whole family thing that doesn't. Lately his dates haven't been as exciting as they used to be, and he knows why. His best friend's been on his mind--day and night. But Piper has made it clear she's not looking for a relationship. Luckily, he's hers for the weekend, and he has three full nights to change her mind!

    The novels were initially published separately, between 1964-1969.Main character is charismatic detective, Alexandru Tudor.

    Their tense, nine-day standoff builds into a deadly war of nerves between two unforgettably charismatic and strong-minded protagonists.

    The wild card is the Exocet -- the enemy, close to acquiring the deadly French missile, will soon be capable of smashing British defenses -- and throwing the global balance of power into chaos.

    When Rufus' growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido, one of Rome's greatest gladiators, attract the cruel gaze of the Emperor, Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the imperial palace as the keeper of the imperial elephant. Rufus soon sees that life here is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods—he is as generous as he is cruel and he is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god who simultaneously lives in constant fear of the plots against his life. Caligula's paranoia is not misplaced, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the center of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.

    . . galvanic and intoxicating.” —The New YorkerFima lives in Jerusalem, but feels he ought to be somewhere else. In his life he has had secret love affairs, good ideas, and written a book of poems that aroused expectations. He has thought about the purpose of the universe and where the country lost its way. He has felt longings of all sorts, and the constant desire to pen a new chapter. And here he is now, in his early fifties in a shabby apartment on a gloomy wet morning, engaged in a humiliating struggle to release his shirt from the zipper of his fly. With wit and insight, Amos Oz portrays a man—and a generation—dreaming noble dreams but doing nothing.“One of Oz’s most memorable fictional creations . . . Fima is a cross between Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Joyce’s Leopold Bloom.” — Washington Post

    Ireland is a world stage, hosting a prestigious Muslim Leaders' Conference. The delegates are hand-picked - but they are not to know that. Security is tight - but alas, not tight enough.

    A world as cruel as it is beautiful. And all the time, they are being stalked by a fearsome beast, who needs one of the children to break a centuries-old curse.But the price of breaking the curse is a terrible one . . . A spellbinding and wild adventure, full of unexpected magic and danger.

    And the miracle it contains does not belong on this Earth.It is mystery and madness -- an enigma with no equal in recorded history. It is mankind's greatest discovery ... and worst nightmare.It may have already obliterated a world. Ours is next.