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Once in a Blue Year
Michael D. Durkota - 2015
Dan is receiving a medical discharge from the navy. With nowhere else to go, he heads to the home of his good friends Nathan and Heather. Trevor is a true submariner. But due to an incident involving Nathan, here he stands, stunned, watching all the girlfriends and wives wiping away their tears as the sleek silhouette of his ship glides stealthily down the river. A rich, multilayered coming-of-age story, Once in a Blue Year follows the two young men through their struggles to discover who they are, each navigating their romantic relationships and coming to terms with the dramatic event at sea that forever altered their lives. "In this lyrical debut novel, the lives of two U.S. Navy men take dramatic turns after they’re cut from a submarine mission during the Gulf War… Debut author Durkota writes a remarkable narrative centered on the afflicted mindsets of his Navy men… And while Durkota’s work often feels like a thriller, it’s more of a psychological study in which the characters, like flashes of lightning, are wonderfully alive for a very short time." — Kirkus Reviews"Durkota's plot is inspired, and his writing is accomplished and vivid... Once in a Blue Year is most highly recommended." - Readers' Favorite"The story is well-written with a lyrical style that borders on poetry at times... Really anyone who appreciates excellent writing will enjoy this one." - Online Book Club
Passionate Intention
Belinda Vale - 2020
His mother is a recovering alcoholic who one day meets a lovely young woman, Anna, in a nearby park. After a friendly chat, she invites Anna back home for tea and when Robbie comes back from work, he meets her. The two are instantly attracted to each other.Anna is a Swiss national and has been working as an au pair in London, but her contract is shortly to come to an end. The pair are distraught about having to part after only just having found one another, so it is agreed Robbie will visit Anna in Basel, her home town, where she lives with her sister Evelyn and Evelyn's boyfriend, the charming Frenchman, Marcel.After Robbie's first visit to Switzerland it becomes clear to the couple that they cannot bear to be apart and so Robbie arranges to get a job working at a major pharmaceutical company in Basel.But no one can foresee the consequences of this choice; and none of the happy family can know what will eventually happen.A gripping tale of love, companionship and commitment is set against a backdrop of jealous fixation as a colleague of Robbie's forms a dangerous obsession with him.Where will it all lead?
Cleo Can Tie A Bow: A Rabbit and Fox Story
Sybrina Durant - 2020
She wears her hair in a bow and decorates her room with bows. Cleo is bow crazy.Learning to tie a bow is very difficult for some people but Cleo remembers how to do it from a cute story she once heard. It is about a little rabbit with very long ears and a very helpful fox who shows her what to do to keep them clean. This is the story of how Cleo learns to tie a “bunny ear” bow.Exercises in manual dexterity build self-esteem in children. Knowing how to tie shoe-strings, scarves and more into a bow is a useful and rewarding skill.“Teach a child a useful skill. Build confidence and self-esteem that lasts a lifetime.”
Africa's Child
Maria Nhambu - 2016
Above all, as a very young child she decided one day that even if there was no other person in the world who loved and wanted her, she was going to love and care for herself—and that decision changed the course of her life. Africa’s Child is the story of a mixed-race girl growing up in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania, East Africa. Raised in an orphanage with no knowledge of her origins or family, she endured abandonment, hardships, severe illnesses, and bullying. Her experiences as a child and teenager included physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, social stigma, and racial discrimination.Yet Nhambu tells her inspiring story with warmth and humor. Her questioning mind probes the African tribal realities and multi-cultural complexities that impacted her life both at the orphanage and schools run by German nuns as well as at an African high school with American nuns. Nhambu not only survived her childhood but triumphed. Her faith and resilience, along with a belief in learning and her tenacious pursuit of an education, sustained her through many challenges. Dance, especially African tribal dance, became the way she healed and nourished her spirit. Through the love and commitment of an American teacher she met in Africa, Nhambu was able to pursue her dream of education and a new life for herself. The first book in her three-part memoir ends as she is leaving Africa for university studies in America on a full scholarship.Maria Nhambu is the creator of Aerobics With Soul®, a fitness workout based on African dance.
A Pigeon's Tale
S.A. Mahan - 2015
Barely escaping with his life, Walter finds himself in a city where kindly street pigeons teach him about language, philosophy, and politics.A venture south to find a human family for the winter sees him face more desperate peril as a flock of snow geese help him finish the journey. Finding solace in a dorm room with two young college students, Walter heads home with one of them to a ranch in Texas where he is adopted by the close-knit family and their quirky pets.Walter forms a quick bond with the scientist grandfather who spends every day with Walter, working on a project in a mysterious tiny shack behind the house. This secret work soon becomes the center of Walter's life-and his fate-when he is thrust into an epic struggle for survival against cosmic forces that threaten to destroy the world.For fans of WATERSHIP DOWN and THE SECRET OF NIMH, A PIGEON"S TALE is a mind-bending sci-fi adventure tale about friendship, loyalty, and destiny.
The Exterminators Trilogy: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Box Set
Mark Gillespie - 2018
And all the people are going mad in the darkness. Has humanity met its match? Or will hope spring from the unlikeliest of places? For the first time ever, The Exterminators Trilogy (Black Storm, Black Fever, Black Earth) is available for you to own in one handy box set. Read this chilling post-apocalyptic horror series from start to finish at your leisure with no waiting in between for the next installment.
And when it’s all over, you’ll never take sunlight for granted again…
Get The Exterminators Trilogy now!
Flooded (Beautiful but Strange, #1)
J.J. Sorel - 2020
I chained myself to his pole.A STEAMY HEA ROMANTIC COMEDY FREE ON KINDLE UNLIMITEDI'm talking about the ancient oak tree his firm was going to chop down. Get your mind out of the gutter.That's how I met Sam Chalmer, the gorgeous only son of tycoon Carrington Chalmer. His company had plans to fell this beautiful old tree on behalf of a silent partner, and I wasn't about to let it happen without a fight.Even though it was tempting to just give in. I was thoroughly enjoying the idea of being at Sam's mercy while he figured out just what to do with me--until the area started to flood and I realized I had lost the key to unlock myself.This may have started as an environmental statement, but it's clear we're both in over our heads...SamThere I was, avoiding my father's typical patriarchal machinations and minding my own business, when I found out that Juniper Berry, an aptly-named daughter of genuine hippies, had chained herself to a tree my company was going to cut down.I had plenty of ideas how to turn Juni's playful taunting to my advantage, seeing as she was literally chained to a tree in front of me, her body on full display. None of them involved nearly drowning or a boat rescue.Now things are even more complicated: I'm falling for a literal tree-hugger when I'm supposed to be heiress hunting and managing a big business deal--and it's all because I made a promise to save that damn oak tree.I'm never underestimating foliage again.AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are a few steamy sex scenes in this enemy-to-lovers romantic comedy. For those who have read Thornhill Trilogy and are curious about the Thornhills four years later, they make an appearance in this story when Sam moves from San Francisco to Malibu and they become neighbors. THIS SERIES ENDS WITH A DEFINITE HEA ENDING.
Quantum Roots
Kyle Keyes - 2012
Author Kyle Keyes uses characters from two previous novels, to promote a theory that particle energy formats with a quantum root system, that can bypass time and space. Keyes believes that such fiction could turn to fact as we move into the age of quantum mechanics. Adventure fans everywhere should delight in this fast paced action story, that brings yesterday's gun play back to settle cyber-age injustice. Synopsis: Jesse Joe Jacks was born sometime during the snow blizzard of 1923. The Lower Elk County, game warden died from a lightning strike on July 23, 1959, while wearing a sheriff's star. Olan Chapman came to life in August of 1974 and found a computer career with a center city, electronics firm. Chapman drinks heavy and is haunted by flashbacks of an older sister, lost to an unsolved case of gang rape and murder. Jacks loved nature and lived to protect wildlife. He stood tall and fought to uphold justice. Jacks was also a crack shot with a firearm - any firearm. Chapman attends the theatre, plays piano and at one time led a march against the National Rifle Association. Both men have the same fingerprints, much to the chagrin of Lt General Alexis Grumman who heads the federal department for para-normal activities. Working with special agent, Jeremy Wade, Grumman breaks open the case when Chapman's fingerprints also match those of the vigilante.
Dancing with Devia
Viveca Benoir - 2014
What she wants, she gets. She wants Julian and she’ll not think twice about killing anyone that stands in her way. The fact that he is already married means nothing to her.You had better hope she doesn't want your husband. Or you.A novel filled with twisted lies, deceit, passion, anger and the ultimate betrayal of trust.IMPORTANT: This novel is for 18+ readers only. Contains graphic sexual scenes.
King of Wands (Kings of the Tarot Book 2)
Anna Durbin - 2020
Mourning Grey: Part One: The Guardians Of The Temple Saga
Marie Montine - 2021
When she sees visions of an ancient temple that defy the story told in the play, she is confronted with choices:. she either has to pick her destiny or her heart...as she is falling for the one whom she is enemies with.A vampire only known as Audray finds her new life as Lharkin's follower troubling; she must help the Empian find a way to convince Cassandra to join them before the human realizes who she really is. When Audray seeks comfort in the arms of the Queen's son, she struggles with the inevitable: that she must eventually tell him what she is.Mourning Grey is the beginning of a saga that explores the lives living under the Guardians of Light and Dark, and that some things exist in the grey, such as love.
Confucius and Opium: China Book Reviews
Isham Cook - 2020
Have foreigners shaped China’s history to a greater extent than has previously been acknowledged, reaching back possibly millennia? Was Confucius’ most famous book, the Analects, inspired by entheogenic medicines imported from abroad, possession of which in the 1930s brought one before the firing squad in the name of Confucius? In these book review essays by Isham Cook, foreign devils, old China Hands, eccentric expatriates, and a few Chinese tell an offbeat history of China’s last two centuries, with a backward glance at ancient China as told by Western mummies.
Dragons in the Clouds
David Blair - 2018
The people during this time were getting eaten by a vicious species of Dragon. The ruling King finally orders the total annilation of all living dragons. A powerful wizard, named Merlinus, who is a friend to the king, does not agree with the Kings order, for Merlinus knows all Dragons are not what they seem. So he does what he must to protect a family of Dragons that he had befriended. And to protect his Dragon friends, Melinus performs the spell of weightlessness and tells the Dragons to fly up and to hide in the cover of the Clouds. An unforeseen ability of the Dragons weightlessness spell is that a Dragons fire now looks like that of lightning and their roar is like that of thunder. Melinus tells the Dragons to live within the clouds and to only come down at night to eat. An apprentice to the wizard who has grandeur of his own has a plan for Dragons that he has hidden deep within a mountain cavern. Now enters a widowed mother, her young boy, who had also befriended a dragon, though a very young one. They suddenly find themselves caught between the Kings order and a battle that has begun between two species of Dragons. A battle that would determine control of the skies above the Kingdom of Albian. This Apprentice’s plan has consequences that may bring the Kingdom and perhaps the very world we live in today to an devastating end.
King Alfred's Jewel: Poetry of the Imagination and Imaginative Photography
David Hamilton - 2014
This contemporary, original poetry is inspired by the stories behind outlaw legends, and also takes the reader on a number of spiritual journies. Hamilton’s first poem, The Journey, remains almost as it was first written. In striving to keep his writing spontaneous, he chose not to over-develop the form of his writing. King Alfred’s Jewel is the title poem and draws its inspiration from The Dark Night of the Soul by Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross. Using a journey to find the king’s jewel as a guiding theme, the poem is a metaphor for the depression many people feel today and mistakenly try to substitute with unhealthy pasttimes. The dramatic monologue, Wolfshead, which comes at the end of the book, is an imaginative tale of outlaw legends. A 'wolfshead' was a resort of outlaws who formed a community, and this particular story is set in Sherwood Forest with Robin Hood presiding. Using two chorus figures to link proceedings and set the scene, this wolfshead is a ghostly gathering who return to tell their legendary stories… This unique book will make an excellent addition to the collection of any poetry and photography fans. It is also a fascinating read for anyone studying literature or theatre.
The Key to Skandos: A tale of adventure, love and magic
William A. Prater - 2014
A mysterious wall appears where none previously existed and something other than mere curiosity prompts a close-up examination, accidentally setting off a violent explosion which ruptures the barrier and sends all three hurtling into an alien, highly-dangerous world where skies are purple and vermilion forests endemic; home to a dreadful flying predator - not unlike the dragon of mythology - besides other, equally fearsome carnivores.Two of their number return leaving one behind, prisoner of an enormously strong but beautiful woman possessed of extraordinary powers. The escapees vow to re-enter, sworn to rescue their companion regardless of danger, but are eventually to discover another, preordained and vitally important reason for their presence. How will they survive and will they somehow manage to fulfil their destiny and ultimately return home...?