. . Eight-year-old, Vern Harpole, wakes up on the front porch of a bakery he's never seen before. The frightened boy is discovered by the kind baker who returns him to the hotel where he'd been staying with his mother and young sister, only to learn they've left and have no intention of returning. With no trace of where they’ve gone or by what means they’re traveling, a search is impossible. Even the authorities have little help to offer. Being childless, the baker and his wife decide to give Vern a home. Initially, they see him as a means of cheap labor. But over time, a bond of love grows between them, and they find joy as a family. Yet Vern can't dismiss the hurtful feelings of abandonment, as well as many unanswered questions about his mother. Margaret Jordan has recently immigrated from Ireland to America. Like Vern, she's troubled by painful reminders of traumatic experiences that have irrevocably altered her life. She settles in Kansas City, where she finds employment at a local restaurant. When she and Vern cross paths, he immediately recognizes her pain and wants to help her, but it will take more than kindness to break through the protective walls she's built around herself. Determination pushes him to be persistent, needing to believe that love can be something more than forsaken.

    

     It follows little "Vikki" from childhood as she blossoms into a formidable young woman who becomes queen, and falls in love with Albert, the cousin who will be her prince. The story begins with the intriguing circumstances surrounding the marriage of Victoria's parents, and her own birth. A fascinating novelisation of a great woman's life, The Little Victoria is set in Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and other royal residences. It lifts the curtain on the political intrigue, royal gossip, family feuds and romances that played a part in the destiny of the little girl who would one day be queen. Perfect for fans of the British Royal Family, historical fiction and TV historical dramas such as Victoria, War and Peace and Poldark.

    From its late-Victorian flowering in the mill towns of the northwest of England, football spread around the world with great speed. It was helped on its way by a series of missionaries who showed the rest of the planet the simple joys of the game. Even now, in many countries, the colloquial word for a football manager is not 'coach' or 'boss' but 'mister', as that is how the early teachers were known, because they had come from the home of the sport to help it develop in new territories.       In Rory Smith's stunning new book Mister, he looks at the stories of these pioneers of the game, men who left this country to take football across the globe. Sometimes, they had been spurned in their own land, as coaching was often frowned upon in England in those days, when players were starved of the ball during the week to make them hungry for it on matchday. So it was that the inspirations behind the 'Mighty Magyars' of the 1950s, the Dutch of the 1970s or top clubs such as Barcelona came from these shores.       England, without realising it, fired the very revolution that would remove its crown, changing football's history, thanks to a handful of men who sowed the seeds of the inversion of football's natural order. This is the story of the men who taught the world to play and shaped its destiny. This is the story of the Misters.

    After building the Buffalo Bills team that went to four consecutive Super Bowls and taking the expansion Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship just two years after the team’s creation, he was responsible for the Indianapolis Colts drafting Peyton Manning with the first overall pick in 1998 and oversaw the team’s victory in Super Bowl XLI. Now, Polian shares his blueprint for building a successful football team in The Game Plan. He details the decisions both a team needs to make in the regular season and the offseason to bring teams to the postseason and the NFL’s ultimate test of a well-built team: the Super Bowl.

    She was dead tired and just wanted to nap. "My babies! I'm so glad you all made it." Caroline met them on the porch. "Hey, ma." Adonis hugged her and then Destiny hugged her before she took the baby out of her hand. "Look at granny's baby," she cooed over AJ. "But I thought I was your baby, granny," Serenity pouted. "You sure are my baby. Come give me some love, sugar." Caroline loved her grandbabies. "Oh my goodness, he looks just like you, Des." "I know right. All he has of his daddy is skin tone," Destiny replied. "Well y'all come on in here." They went inside. "Where is Tamara?" Adonis asked about his sister. "She's at work but she'll be here later," Caroline replied as she kissed all over AJ's face. "Oh ok." He responded. "Adonis take y'all stuff to the guestroom and you know ReRe has her own room here now 'cause I want to start getting her during the summers," she said, referring to Serenity by the nickname she had given her. "Nah, I'm getting a hotel room. Des and the kids are staying here with y'all." Caroline looked at him like he had grown two heads. "And why the hell can't you stay here with your family?" His mom still didn't know that he had a new girlfriend. It was now or never. "My girlfriend coming up here to kick it with me," he sort of mumbled. Even though he was a grown man, his mothers' opinion mattered. "What the hell did you just say?" Caroline only cursed when she was pissed. "Look ma, not now okay." He let out a frustrated sigh. He knew how much his family liked Destiny but they had to accept the fact that they weren't together. "So you brought Destiny and my grandbabies up here knowing your girlfriend was coming too?" "Yeah, man. But it's not even like that. I invited my girl before I knew Des was coming." Adonis felt like a little kid who was being reprimanded by his mother. "Well, the minute you found out Des was coming, you should have canceled that other chick." Caroline was so disgusted by her son that she got up and left the room. "Look, I didn't know coming here would cause problems. I was just trying to make it better for AJ." Destiny was apologetic. "Nah, Des, you good, ma. But I need to go take care of something. I'll be back later." He stood to leave. "Okay." Destiny hated to see him leave because she knew he was going to meet up with Nikki. Yeah, she was actually jealous.

    But under this surface perfection is a secret Hannah has tried to bury, one that rears its painful head each year on her birthday. When David Conway enters her life just as she turns thirty-eight, that secret will be exposed. Can Hannah's relationship with her husband and daughter survive when they discover she is not the person they thought her to be? Patricia Kay once again delivers an emotional story centering around family relationships, one of her favorite themes.

    Illuminating the way in which faith has influenced both her life and her writing, Karon also discusses her calling as an author—a calling she received early but took years to answer. Only an incredible leap of faith gave her the courage to give up all she had, risking everything to follow this call. Intimate, funny, and straight-from-the-heart, this eSpecial is a superb companion to Jan Karon’s novels, providing a revealing glimpse into the life of a novelist who has moved so many people with her words.

    Conflict. Lawlessness. An uncertain future in a strange place. The American republic has crumbled. Joshua Winston, a reluctant leader who had hoped to enjoy a quiet, peaceful retirement from politics, is forced off of the sidelines. Now, he must lead a group of Americans determined to survive in the dangerous new world they face. He takes great pains to steer his group clear of the chaos that reigns after the republic, but fears that the conflict will inevitably find its way to them.

    Often her only contact with the outside world was through her two-way radio. Stretched to the limits, she achieved more than she ever thought herself capable of. With every setback and in the toughest of times when the odds seemed insurmountable, she learnt to dust herself off, find a smile and just keep on going. For eighteen years Jenny and Rick battled flood, drought, cyclones and personal hardship. Yet their world was a big as the landscape in which they lived, filled as it was with generosity, wonderful characters and the joy of life. At McAllister they established an oasis for their family and friends.Jenny's motto is: life throws many curve balls at us, but it's how we deal with them that counts. This is the extraordinary story of a woman of the bush and her indomitable spirit.

    When she has trouble finding a teaching position in St. Louis, she applies for a substitute's position at Casey's Institute, a juvenile detention center located in the Missouri Ozarks. Is it chance or God's will when a spring snowstorm prevents her from driving home?Dr. Michael Grant admits he made the wrong decision when he ignored the weather and took Anna to dinner. It's the first of many misunderstandings, and Michael's apologies aren't enough to truly earn Anna's forgiveness. Every time Anna gives the handsome administrator another chance, it seems he'll prove he's no different from any of the other men who have disappointed her.Michael can't help being intrigued by this tiny woman, whose behavior is so different than the ordinary. Though she admits she's afraid of animals, he offers her a job overseeing an experimental pet therapy program. Ignoring his self-imposed rule against fraternizing with those who work at Casey's, he finds himself seeking every opportunity to get to know her better. Overcoming a fear of dogs isn't Anna's only challenge. Some of the other women resent the special treatment she receives from Dr. Grant, and they'll do whatever they can to keep the two of them apart. It seems she has inadvertently made an enemy of at least one man as well, and he'll stop at nothing to come between her and Michael Grant.It takes a near crisis to open Anna's eyes to the truth about loyalty, from both animals and people. She's ready to swallow her pride, if Michael is willing to give her another chance.Michael blames himself for what happened - he should've shared his history in the beginning. Is it too late to tell her now, and ask her to give him another chance?

    We were colored girls in a white world that didn’t want us."  Born on the wrong side of a racial divide in apartheid-torn Cape Town, young sisters Ruby and Rose exist in a world where they are not welcome. As part of the Cape Colored community, they are considered socially inferior, yet even within their own social group the sisters live in the poor end of town. Their father was killed when they were very small, so when their mother dies after a protracted illness, Ruby and Rose’s fate falls into the hands of Aunt Olive. Ruby knows without being told that their aunt’s home will not be opened up to them – charity does not extend to the poor relations who would cast a smudge on such a respectable house. Aunt Olive condemns her nieces to the local orphanage, relieving her conscience with monthly invitations to Sunday lunch. In the orphanage the girls grow up sheltered from a divided world that they do not yet fully understand, but the day approaches when Ruby and Rose must forge their own paths in life and confront the lessons that apartheid enforces. Like the award-winning Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter, this beautifully observed novel of sisterly love once again displays Pamela Jooste’s poignant understanding of human nature.

    Sunday lunchtime kick-offs. Absurd ticket prices. Non-black boots. Football's menu of ills is long. Where has the joy gone? Why do we bother? Saturday, 3pm offers a glorious antidote. It is here to remind you that football can still sing to your heart.Warm, heartfelt and witty, here are fifty short essays of prose poetry dedicated to what is good in the game. These are not wallowing nostalgia; they are things that remain sweet and right: seeing a ground from the train, brackets on vidiprinters, ball hitting bar, Jimmy Armfield's voice, listening to the results in a traffic jam, football towns and autograph-hunters. This is fan culture at its finest, words to transport you somewhere else and identify with, words to hide away in a pub and luxuriate in.Saturday, 3pm is a book of love letters to football and a clarion call, helping us find the romance in the game all over again.

    When a good-looking, big city FBI agent named Mark Putnam entered her life, Susan thought her prayers had been answered. She was dead wrong.Their relationship began when Susan agreed to be Putnam's paid informant in an investigation of her ex-husband's criminal friends, then quickly grew into an illicit affair that consumed their lives for nearly two years – until she became pregnant and threatened to expose Putnam, ruining his career and his marriage. On June 8, 1989, Putnam took her for a drive into the hills to discuss her demands of marriage. She was never heard from again.The FBI Killer recounts the bizarre events that forced Mark Putnam to confess to brutally killing his lover, then covering up his crime for over one year. The first agent in FBI history to be convicted of homicide, Putnam is now serving sixteen years in a federal prison.

    He is regarded by many as the greatest manager ever, building three brilliant sides with players such as Charlton, Edwards, Law & Best. Originally written just two years before Busby's death, this book is now available with a new introduction.