The woman who never made a match of her own is making matches for everyone else in this hilarious comedy of manners from the author of Mr. Malcolm's List. Sophronia Lattimore had her romantic dreams destroyed years ago and is resigned to her role as chaperone for her cousin. Still, she cannot sit idly by when she becomes aware that a gentleman is about to propose to the wrong woman. She sends him an anonymous letter that is soon the talk of the town, particularly when her advice proves to be correct. Her identity is discovered and Sophie, formerly a wallflower, becomes sought after for her “expert” matchmaking skills.  One person who seeks her out is the eligible and attractive Sir Edmund Winslow.  As Sophie assists Sir Edmund in his pursuit of a wife, she wishes she could recommend herself as his bride. However, she vows to remain professional and uninvolved while aiding him in his search (especially since the...

The Dragon Kingdom has been overrun by shadowy monsters! In their desperation, the dragons send for the only hero brave and clever enough to help them: a young boy named Edgar. Armed with nothing but a couple of tennis balls, the odd vegetable, and a few tricks that he learned in Sunday School, Edgar sets off on a perilous quest to help his scaly friends.One month.Thirty-one stories.Fourteen challenges.Whether you prefer sadness or silliness, humor or poignancy, action or allegory: these 31 very short stories include a little something for everyone, from to the instant messaging logs of Norse deities to the struggles of a banana peel. Written entirely during July 2015 as a part of Flash Fiction Month.

The author of Hamnet—New York Times best seller and National Book Critics Circle Award winner—brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps...

August 1940. On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city's skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime – until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open.Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, no stranger himself to the haunts of the upper echelons of society, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson. Yet they soon face a number of obstacles. With the crime committed in rooms in use by an exiled king and his retinue, there are those who fear diplomatic repercussions and would rather the case be forgotten. With mounting pressure from various Intelligence agencies, rival political factions and gang warfare brewing either side of the Thames, Coburg and Lampson must untangle a web of deception if they are to solve the case – and survive.

Will her plans to blackmail him into her bed backfire?Lady Pennington, a young widow, has long held a flame for Cedman Ashley. But Ashley is busy courting a rich heiress.So what's a lady to do?Resourceful and daring, Lady Pennington resorts to blackmail--all in fun, of course. But that's not how Ashley sees it...

In 1894 the SS Arcadia sets sail from Liverpool, carrying Eva and Frederick Hamilton—a young married couple determined to make a new start in an exciting new frontier: Australia. But as the ship nears its destination, it goes down in an unexpected storm. Years later, Olivia Hamilton makes the same journey, hoping to learn more about her mysterious origins. As Olivia draws closer to discovering the truth about her past, she realizes that, like Eva Hamilton all those years ago, this could be a journey with unexpected consequences.

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDThe highly original, blistering, and unconventional memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer, which has now sold over one million copies worldwideWith insight, humor, formal invention, and lyricism, in A Man of Two Faces Viet Thanh Nguyen rewinds the film of his own life. He expands the genre of personal memoir by acknowledging larger stories of refugeehood, colonization, and ideas about Vietnam and America, writing with his trademark sardonic wit and incisive analysis, as well as a deep emotional openness about his life as a father and a son.At the age of four, Nguyen and his family are forced to flee his hometown of Ban Mê Thuột and come to the USA as refugees. After being removed from his brother and parents and homed with a family on his own, Nguyen is later allowed to resettle into his own family in suburban San José. But there is violence...

An answer to the greatest ‘locked-room’ mystery of all time,What happened to the Princes in the Tower?A book by Mike Voyce doesn’t do just one thing at once; take each strand at the depth you like. Just read it for a very pacey and original story; covering the abduction of the Princes, the arrest of Hastings and Rivers, the Buckingham Rebellion, the Tower of London, the History and the characterShakespeare called his play ‘Richard III’ a tragedy. Its centre is the disappearance of 12 year-old Prince Edward and 10 year-old Prince Richard, the sons of King Edward IV, from the care of their uncle, King Richard III. Shakespeare and history accuse Richard of murdering the Princes, within months of their father’s death, in April 1483, but in each century since, starting in the 1490s, there have been dissenting voices.By 2012 many millions of words have been written about what happened to the Princes, yet no-one has ever offered a satisfactory or complete explanation, at least not until now. The problem with the explanation is it has magic at its heart, the magic of the necromancer, and historians won’t allow themselves to believe in magic.Amongst all the fantasy of Horror and Sci-Fi on our bookshelves there is room for a little medieval High Magic; the more so since it may be true.The author and narrator does undertake psychic investigations, as mentioned in the book. The Arthur Findlay College at Stansted Hall, where the story opens, is a World centre for psychic studies and mediumship. Does it matter whether The Necromancer is a true story or fiction? If you accept there is no such thing as ‘single-pointed reality,’ there are many different realities, that miracles and other impossibilities are a good deal more common than people think, and that what people believe is what really matters; you may conclude simply The Necromancer is a good story.Because this is an interactive eBook you have free access to the full text of three important books of history, not to mention the Odyssey, two major books on magic and many other materials. In all there are 54 hyperlinks to relevant pages on the Internet.Leave historical authority and extended backgrounds to the hyperlinks. They allow you and the author to get on with the story in all its twists and turns. The strengths and weaknesses of historical figures are shown; the character of the little known Thomas Nandyke, the necromancer, is brought to light and brought to life.If you’re hooked, and you will be, Parts II & III go on to put right the world we live in, they deal with King Louis XI and bishop Morton; Part III restores Hastings and Rivers, not to mention the Princes, of whom there are three, including Richard III’s own son.As is usual with Mike Voyce, this story stands on the boundary between Truth and Fiction; it’s as true as you want it to be. If you take the insights into the nature of realities, the ‘After Word on Truth,’ right at the very end of the whole book, will clear the mists which still seem to cloud our own world.

From the author of the acclaimed Blood Water Paint, a new contemporary YA novel in prose and verse about a girl struggling with guilt and a desire for revenge after her sister's rapist escapes with no prison time.Em Morales's older sister was raped by another student after a frat party. A jury eventually found the rapist guilty on all counts—a remarkable verdict that Em felt more than a little responsible for, since she was her sister's strongest advocate on social media during the trial. Her passion and outspokenness helped dissuade the DA from settling for a plea deal. Em's family would have real justice. But the victory is short-lived. In a matter of minutes, justice vanishes as the judge turns the Morales family's world upside down again by sentencing the rapist to no prison time. While her family is stunned, Em is literally sick with rage and guilt. To make matters worse, a news clip of her saying that the sentence "makes me want to use a fucking...