Fame, fortune and true love...Emma McDaniel thought she had it all.But stardom came at great personal cost--apainful divorce from her childhood sweetheartand the shattering of all her dreams. Fleeingthe press and her own despair, Emma headsto Scotland for the role of a lifetime. There, brooding historian Dr. Jared Butler will helpher become the legendary Lady Aislinn...unless his surly attitude tempts Emmato slay him with the lady's sword first.Scarred by a disastrous marriage of hisown, Jared has little use for women--and none at all for pampered starlets. But as the two lose themselves in thelore of the past, Jared is stunned tofind in Emma a kindred spirit. Willhe dare to leave the safety of hishistory books and risk his heartwith a woman of flesh and blood?

SHE'S GOT A KNACK FOR TROUBLE--AND IMPOSSIBLE DREAMS...At twenty-seven, free-spirited Rowena Brown has never fit in anywhere--not with her ambitious family, not at veterinary school and certainly not in any relationship she's ever had. But surely the good people of Whitewater, Illinois, will welcome a pet-store owner whose talent is finding the perfect home for "problem" animals, even if they do have names like Destroyer.... When a hundred-pound monstrosity of a dog appears at his door, Whitewater deputy Cash Lawless knows he's in trouble. A single dad with two young daughters, Cash wants more chaos in his life about as much as he wants to find himself drawn to the eccentric Rowena. But if he's not careful, the unruly hound and his unconventional owner might reignite Cash's hopes along with his heart--and help them all find home at last.

Ziggy, Jerome, Rashawn, and Rico are sure they're going to win the $200 first prize in the upcoming school talent show. With their exuberant singing (especially Ziggy's), energetic dancing, and glittery costumes, how can they lose? And they have big plans for using the prize money to fix up their backyard clubhouse. But then they meet a little girl with a big voice who may have what it takes to beat the Black Dinosaurs - and who needs the money far more than they do. It's hard to know whom to root for - how can everyone emerge a winner?

Bestselling author Mark Frost makes a triumphant return to fiction with this riveting World War II thriller, based on a shocking real-life German operation run by "the most dangerous man in Europe." Fall 1944. Germany is losing, and the Americans are starting to hope they'll be home for Christmas. Lieutenant Colonel Otto Skorzeny, "Hitler's Commando," famed for his daring rescue of the imprisoned Mussolini, has just received orders for Operation Greif: He is to assemble a new brigade of 2,000 men, all of whom speak English, and send them behind Allied lines disguised as GIs, where they will wreak havoc in advance of a savage new offensive. And from those men, Skorzeny is to select a smaller group, made up of the twenty most highly skilled commandos fluent in American culture, to attempt an even more sinister mission--the second objective--which, if completed, not only would change the course of the war, but would change the course of history. Filled with real characters and details only recently released by the United States military, The Second Objective is historical fiction at its most pulse-pounding, its most unpredictable, and its most compulsively readable.

In this free Rizzoli & Isles short story from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, a bizarre death comes with a supernatural twist. Homicide cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have seen their fair share of mortal crimes, but the death of Kimberly Rayner may qualify as inhuman in more ways than one. When corpse of the emaciated seventeen-year-old girl is discovered next to an empty coffin in an abandoned church, mysterious bruises around the throat suggest foul play. Caught fleeing the scene is the victim’s closest friend, Lucas Henry, an equally skeletal, pale teenager who claims he’s guilty only of having a taste for blood—a craving he shared with Kimberly. But the victim’s distraught father doesn’t believe in vampires, only vengeance. And now, another life may be at risk unless Rizzoli and Isles can uncover the astonishing truth. Includes a special preview of Tess Gerritsen’s new Rizzoli & Isles novel, The Silent Girl, on sale July 5   And don’t miss the season premiere of TNT’s hit series Rizzoli & Isles on July 11

A sweeping epic of ancient Rome from the #1 bestselling author of "The Thorn Birds"In this breathtaking follow-up to "The October Horse," Colleen McCullough turns her attention to the legendary romance of Antony and Cleopatra, and in this timeless tale of love, politics, and power, proves once again that she is the best historical novelist of our time. Caesar is dead, and Rome is, again, divided. Lepidus has retreated to Africa, while Antony rules the opulent East, and Octavian claims the West, the heart of Rome, as his domain. Though this tense truce holds civil war at bay, Rome seems ripe for an emperor -- a true Julian heir to lay claim to Caesar's legacy. With the bearing of a hero, and the riches of the East at his disposal, Antony seems poised to take the prize. Like a true warrior-king, he is a seasoned general whose lust for power burns alongside a passion for women, feasts, and Chian wine. His rival, Octavian, seems a less convincing candidate: the slight, golden-haired boy is as controlled as Antony is indulgent and as cool-headed and clear-eyed as Antony is impulsive. Indeed, the two are well matched only in ambition. And though politics and war are decidedly the provinces of men in ancient Rome, women are adept at using their wits and charms to gain influence outside their traditional sphere. Cleopatra, the ruthless, golden-eyed queen, welcomes Antony to her court and her bed but keeps her heart well guarded. A ruler first and a woman second, Cleopatra has but one desire: to place her child on his father, Julius Caesar's, vacant throne. Octavian, too, has a strong woman by his side: his exquisite wife, raven-haired Livia Drusilla, who learns to wield quiet power to help her husband in his quest for ascendancy. As the plot races toward its inevitable conclusion -- with battles on land and sea -- conspiracy and murder, love and politics become irrevocably entwined. McCullough's knowledge of Roman history is detailed and extensive. Her masterful and meticulously researched narrative is filled with a cast of historical characters whose motives, passions, flaws, and insecurities are vividly imagined and expertly drawn. The grandeur of ancient Rome comes to life as a timeless human drama plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the Republic's final days.

In nineteen-fourteen, it was enemy aliens. In nineteen-thirty, it was Wobblies. In nineteen-fifty-seven, it was fellow-travelers. And, in nineteen seventy-one, Kenneth J. Malone rolled wearily out of bed wondering what the hell it was going to be now. One thing, he told himself, was absolutely certain: it was going to be terrible. It always was. He managed to stand up, although he was swaying slightly when he walked across the room to the mirror for his usual morning look at himself. He didn\'t much like staring at his own face, first thing in the morning, but then, he told himself, it was part of the toughening- up process every FBI agent had to go through. You had to learn to stand up and take it when things got rough, he reminded himself. He blinked and looked into the mirror. His image blinked back.

Workin up a hot, sticky sweat is pure pleasure with a hard-ridin cowboy or two. Struggling stock contractor Gemma Jansen swallows her pride and tracks down circuit rider Cash Big Crow to offer him a job managing her ranch. Cash agrees on one condition: theirs won't be strictly a working relationship. She's the boss during the day, but once she's corralled in the bedroom, Cash calls the shots. Despite concerns about their age difference, Gemma consents. Cash suspects the sexy widow hides an untapped wild streak. He intends to loosen her tightly held reins of control even if he has to break out his horsewhip to do it. But Cash is in for a surprise. Gemma proves a rough and ready participant in any leather-n-lace game Cash dreams up. Between riding herd on his wayward daughter, Macie, and rowdy cowboy Carter McKay doggin Macie's every boot step, Cash struggles to hide his true feelings for Gemma except this time, Gemma's grabbed the bull by the horns and she's playing for keeps. Summer's going to be a hot one at the Bar 9.

After seeing his friend Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge for the first time in years, author Jeremy Garnet is dragged along on holiday to Ukridge\'s new chicken farm in Dorset. Hilarious situations abound with Garnet\'s troublesome courting of a girl living nearby and the struggles on the farm, which are worsened by Ukridge\'s bizarre business ideas and methods.

The old powers try to come back, and the planet is plunged into chaos, and civilization is destroyed, and it gets all violent and evil...the old legends tell that a hero...with the sacred turtle, always... Los Angeles, California. Neddie Wentworthstein is the guy with the turtle. Sandor Eucalyptus is the guy with the jellybean. Sholmos Bunyip wants the turtle...and he'll stop at nothing to get it. This is the story of how Neddie, three good friends, a shaman, a ghost, and a little maneuver known as the French substitution determine the fate of the world.

It was the 1950's, a time of calm, a time when all things were new and everything seemed possible. A few years before, a noble war had been won, and now life had returned to normal. For one little boy, however, life had become anything but "normal." To all appearances, he and his family lived an almost idyllic life. the father was a respected professor, the mother a witty and elegant lady, someone everyone loved. They were parents to three bright, smiling children:two boys, and a girl. To all appearances, their life seemed ideal. But it was, in fact, all appearances.

1 bestselling author Karen Kingsbury tells the heartwrenching story of Cody Gunner, a widower fighting for stability, and the woman who wants to help him trust again--even when trust is the most terrifying thing of all. Still aching over his wife's death, Cody Gunner can't bear the thought of also letting go of his Down's Syndrome brother, Carl Joseph. Cody wants his brother home, where he will be safe and cared for, not out on his own in a world that Cody knows all too well can be heartless and insecure. So when Carl Joseph's teacher, Elle, begins championing his independence, she finds herself at odds with Cody. But even as these two battle it out, they can't deny the instinctive connection they share, and Cody faces a crisis of the heart. What if Elle is the one woman who can teach Cody that love is still possible? If Cody can let go of his lingering anger, he might just see that sometimes the brightest hope of all lies just beyond the clouds.

An unforgettable holiday story in Ann M. Martin's timeless new series Format: 4 CDs, Unabridged It's looking to be a hard holiday season for the girls of Main Street. For Flora and Ruby, it's the first Christmas without their parents around. For Olivia, gift giving and tree decorating must be balanced with the fact that both of her parents need jobs. And for Nikki, there's the presence of her mean, angry father to reckon with. Luckily, the girls have each other--and the community around them. As Camden Falls prepares for its annual festivities, Flora, Ruby, Olivia, and Nikki all find that the hard things become easier when there are family, friends, and neighbors to share things with.

Joyce Carol Oates returns with a dark, romantic, and captivating tale, set in the Great Lakes region of upstate New York—the territory of her remarkably successful New York Times bestseller The Gravedigger's Daughter. Set in the mythical small city of Sparta, New York, this searing, vividly rendered exploration of the mysterious conjunction of erotic romance and tragic violence in late-twentieth-century America returns to the emotional and geographical terrain of acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates's previous bestsellers We Were the Mulvaneys and The Gravedigger's Daughter. When a young wife and mother named Zoe Kruller is found brutally murdered, the Sparta police target two primary suspects, her estranged husband, Delray Kruller, and her longtime lover, Eddy Diehl. In turn, the Krullers' son, Aaron, and Eddy Diehl's daughter, Krista, become obsessed with each other, each believing the other's father is guilty. Told in halves in the very different voices of Krista and Aaron, Little Bird of Heaven is a classic Oates novel in which the lyricism of intense sexual love is intertwined with the anguish of loss, and tenderness is barely distinguishable from cruelty. By the novel's end, the fated lovers, meeting again as adults, are at last ready to exorcise the ghosts of the past and come to terms with their legacy of guilt, misplaced love, and redemptive yearning.

In At Large and At Small, Anne Fadiman returns to one of her favorite genres, the familiar essay—a beloved and hallowed literary tradition recognized for both its intellectual breadth and its miniaturist focus on everyday experiences. With the combination of humor and erudition that has distinguished her as one of our finest essayists, Fadiman draws us into twelve of her personal obsessions: from her slightly sinister childhood enthusiasm for catching butterflies to her monumental crush on Charles Lamb, from her wistfulness for the days of letter-writing to the challenges and rewards of moving from the city to the country. Many of these essays were composed “under the influence” of the subject at hand. Fadiman ingests a shocking amount of ice cream and divulges her passion for Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip and her brother’s homemade Liquid Nitrogen Kahlúa Coffee (recipe included); she sustains a terrific caffeine buzz while recounting Balzac’s coffee addiction; and she stays up till dawn to write about being a night owl, examining the rhythms of our circadian clocks and sharing such insomnia cures as her father’s nocturnal word games and Lewis Carroll’s mathematical puzzles. At Large and At Small is a brilliant and delightful collection of essays that harkens a revival of a long-cherished genre.