The weather had been extreme that month: days of drenching rain, sudden showers of hail, temperatures passing record highs. Local children whispered that an angel had fallen to earth in a thunderstorm. There were roving groups who swore they had found signs. Footprints in the grass, black feathers, a campfire in the woods behind the high school where there were sparks of shimmering ash. One neighborhood boy vowed that he had seen a man in a black cloak rise above the earth and walk on air, and although no one believed his account, mothers began to keep their children home. They locked the doors, called in the dogs, kept the lights on after dusk..."Alice Hoffman is the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Magic, The Dovekeepers, and The Marriage of Opposites. Hoffman’s work has been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Her novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.Flyleaf Journal Issue #15December 2014Illustrated by Timothy TangHand Lettering by Heidi Unkefer

    Introduction by Robert Silverberg. Afterwords by Norman Spinrad, Vonda N McIntyre, Robert Sheckley, Philip Jose Farmer, Thomas M Disch, and Edward Bryant.

    With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.Visit the Penguin Readers websiteExclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.When Lou Clark loses her job at a café, she is given a job caring for Will Traynor. Will was disabled in a motorbike accident. Lou knows she needs the money. Will knows that his accident took away his love of life. Neither of them know that they're going to change each other's lives forever.

    Ranging from the 19th to the 20th centuries, writers include James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, Richard Edward Connell, Henri Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Jack London, Henri Ringgold Wilmer Lardner, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant and Edgar Allan Poe.

    

     TEAGAN This little garage is all I have left of my dead father. And Jay Healey is about to set it on fire. He thinks he can do whatever he wants. But just because he’s a gorgeous outlaw, doesn’t mean I’m just gonna roll over and take it from him. Until he makes me do exactly that. Pretending to be my boyfriend? Forcing me to accept his “protection?” It’s driving me d*mn near crazy. Mostly because, as infuriating as he is, the biker has staked a claim in my heart. My chest throbs every time he strolls in the garage. And when he pins me against the wall and kisses me fierce… I completely come apart. JAY I’ve got a war on my hands. I’m a veteran of the motorcycle club world, and I know firsthand how ugly these things can get. Men will suffer. Blood will be spilled. And if innocent little Teagan is caught in the crossfire, she’s as good as dead. That’s why I took her to my MC’s clubhouse – for her own safety. She doesn’t like it…. Not one bit. But that’ll change soon. Because as soon as I get my hands on her curves, she’s gonna be addicted to me. One taste of my iron rod, and she’s hooked for life. But after that first touch, things start changing faster than I can handle. I go back to her again and again. Maybe I’m the one with an addiction. All I know is this: If my enemies think they can come into my house and take my woman, they’d better think again. Because I’ll kill them all to protect what’s mine. IRON is a full-length, standalone, super steamy, bad boy motorcycle club romance novel from bestselling author KATHRYN THOMAS. This suspenseful, action-packed MC romance is intended for mature audiences, due to violence, strong language, dark themes and elements, and explicit intimate scenes. The romance between the alpha male bad boy and the fiery woman he can't resist ends with a guaranteed happily ever after (HEA) ending, has absolutely NO CHEATING, and does NOT include a cliffhanger of any kind.

    In a world where the League is the law, alliances will be broken and forged, enemies will be made and vanquished, and love will be found between the warriors of this world…Born of NightCommand Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades and Kiara Zamir are both hunted. The only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.Born of FireWhen Syn the assassin comes back on the radar, Shahara is only one who can bring him to justice. But they have past secrets that make the mission more deadly…Born of IceDevyn Kell can no longer be loyal to the League. Alix Garran is a woman on the run. As Alix's past catches up to her, and Devyn's old enemies turn lethal, they have to fight together…or fall alone.

    A horde of beasts known only as the scourge has ravaged the land, leaving only the village of Terreas to survive. Hemmed in on all sides by the scourge, the denizens of Terreas eke out a lonely existence, trying to survive in a land that is all but dead. Jasen Rabinn is a teenage boy trapped in Terreas but with a mind rooted outside the boundaries of his village. He longs for adventure, and when the mysterious Baraghosa – a sorcerer of a sort not native to Luukessia – comes to Terreas, a chain of events is set in motion that will carry Jasen beyond his simple town. To adventure. To danger. To his destiny.

    Sure to mesmerize fans of Deborah Harkness, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Karen Marie Moning, these novels introduce a trio of kickass heroines who perfectly showcase Armstrong’s thrilling imagination.  DIME STORE MAGIC   Paige Winterbourne was always either too young or too rebellious to succeed her mother as leader of the elite American Coven of Witches. Now that she’s twenty-three, the Elders can no longer deny her. But even Paige’s wildest antics can’t hold a candle to those of her new charge, Savannah, who is all too willing to use her budding powers for evil, and evil is all too willing to claim her. For this girl is being pursued by a dark faction of the supernatural underworld. It’s an initiation into adulthood, womanhood, and the brutal side of magic—and Paige will have to do everything within her power to make sure they both survive.  INDUSTRIAL MAGIC  Someone is murdering the teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals—a circle of families that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful than the Cortez Cabal, a faction with which Paige is intimately acquainted. Her boyfriend is none other than Lucas Cortez, the rebel son and unwilling heir. But love isn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt for an unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s a battle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If Paige gets the chance.  HAUNTED   Eve Levine—half-demon, black witch, and devoted mother—has been dead for three years. She has a great house and an interesting love life, and she can’t be killed again, which comes in handy when you’ve made as many enemies as Eve has. All she needs to do is find a way to communicate with her daughter, Savannah, and she’ll be happy. But the Fates have other plans. They want Eve to hunt down an evil spirit called the Nix, who has escaped from hell, before she does any more damage. But the Nix is a dangerous enemy: The only way to stop her is with an angel’s sword—and Eve is no angel.  Praise for Kelley Armstrong and the Otherworld series  “Gripping . . . [a] sexy supernatural romance [whose] special strength lies in its seamless incorporation of the supernatural into the real world.”—Publishers Weekly, on Dime Store Magic   “One of my favorite writers.”—New York Times bestselling author Karin Slaughter   “Up there with the big girls of the genre like Laurell K. Hamilton.”—The Kansas City Star   “Armstrong writes page-turning prose.”—Booklist   “One of the masters of urban fantasy.”—Fresh Fiction

    Using her infectious joy, she was determined to soften the heart of her new employer, Mr. Cole, and to bring warmth and cheer to his cold Aspen home. New to Aspen, Chloe was resolute to start fresh, shaking off a past relationship betrayal. She saw the Cole assignment as her ticket to establish herself professionally, and despite the magnetic lure of Mr. Tall, Dark, and Delicious, she knew to keep her distance. For real estate mogul, Elias Cole, a broken heart had vetoed celebrating Christmas for years. More Scrooge than Kris Kringle, he was desperate for help so he hired Chloe Craig to bring the once-loved Christmas joy to his home. But when his personal life fell apart, he needed more than a decorator. He needed a miracle, and her name was Chloe. Sometimes desire is simply too irresistible to give into, and attraction too hard to ignore. While some girls get presents for Christmas, others get Cole. Could a little Cole for Christmas be Chloe’s wish come true?

    41 CD complete and unabridged audiobook reading

    If You Desire Kresley Cole is back with more steamy adventures! In this sexy historical romance Kresley takes readers on a journey through the Scottish Highlands with hunky leading men. If You Dare: IF YOU DARE is the first book in a new trilogy from featuring the three MacCarrick brothers. Kresley takes readers on a journey through the Scottish Highlands to Andorra with hunky leading men and a fantastic romantic storyline.

    

    "Tank Farm Dynamo" sure tried! What if we found the nerve, the spirit and daring to use every resource -- including those that NASA simply threw away? An unabashedly old-fashioned hard SF story with science and technology as central, problem-solving players... plus a real twist.

    On that afternoon, her husband of ten years crash-landed his malfunctioning single-engine plane in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Dr. Darrell Swank suffered multiple fractures, and third degree burns over sixty percent of his body when the gas tank exploded as he crawled away from the wreckage. Over the next five weeks, she struggled to be a mother to their children while she kept a near round-the-clock vigil at the hospital. Darrell’s survival was questionable from one day to the next, and even if he survived, would he be the same man he was before the crash? Did his fate depend on this test of her faith?The Death of Me is the true story of a wife and mother living day to day through a fog of shock and unimaginable agony. And, alone in the aftermath, fumbling for some way to not only survive, but to thrive. It is a story of pain, of release, of forgiveness. And of healing, resilience, and rebirth. It is a story of a writer finding her voice.